Council: Markets must remain open

By CLARISSA MOI
THE Papua New Guinea Business Council will support any policy that stops the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in workplaces, and allows the market to remain open, an official says.
Council executive director Douveri Henao said they would support either a no-jab-no-job policy or a non-vaccination policy.
“Our fundamental position is that the market needs to remain open and trade,” he said.
“And the only way the market can remain open and trade is that the workers apply the ‘Niupela Pasin’ protocols. Safety cannot be compromised in workplaces.”
Henao was responding to a plan by the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) to take off the payroll any employee still not vaccinated by Nov 1.
He said the NCDC’s position was in line with a survey that the council conducted early this year.
It concluded that safety was a real challenge.
According to the survey, the majority of chief executive officers and managers in the public and private sectors said their workers must be vaccinated.
This is because the Covid-19 has become a safety issue. In that same survey however, the CEOs also indicated that they understood the hesitancy prevalent in the workforce.
The survey also found that a significant amount of money had been spent on the non-vaccination workplace environment.
“Our data indicated from K70,000 to K5 million had been spent,” Henao said.
“In terms of employees’ positions, if they do not want to get vaccinated, there are business continuity plans that allows them to work.
“But those business continuity plans are not as effective as ones that have the vaccines.”