Companies relax restrictions

By PETER ESILA
TWO big companies have relaxed the rules on the wearing of face masks in their premises, making it voluntary for customers and employees.
Bank South Pacific Financial Group Ltd chief executive officer Robin Fleming said: “BSP has stopped enforcing the wearing of masks by customers in our branches.
“The wearing of masks by staff is also optional.”
Brian Bell group chief executive officer Cameron Mackellar said: “We are no longer making it mandatory to wear face masks in our stores.
“It is now entirely voluntary.
“Most Covid-19 (Coronavirus) restrictions by the (National Pandemic Response) controller have been lifted,” he told The National.
“Our workforce is 100 per cent vaccinated. “We continue to test our team for the Covid-19 randomly but regularly.
“Should we see a spike in positive cases (among) our team, we will revert to appropriate actions.
“We continue to support and respect (employees and customers) if they choose to wear masks.”
The Brian Bell group has 16 retail stores, six trade centres, a residential development and more than 1,300 team members.
Meanwhile, in an interview with The National last month, Mackellar said the company had enjoyed a strong first quarter performance across all business areas and regions.
He said this was underpinned by a new Homecentre store opening in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, a month ago.
On the recent Government interventions which has led to certain taxes being lifted to combat inflation, Mackellar said: “Any GST (goods and services tax) relief is a good one for consumers.
“However, to date it has not had a material impact on our trading performance.
“Maybe food has been different.”
He added that foreign currency issues seemed to be a perennial problem.
“Sadly, the foreign currency issue never seems to go away in Papua New Guinea,” he said.