Dion wants answers on fishery project

EAST New Britain Governor Leo Dion has questioned the delay in the New Britain Resources Development Fisheries project near Kabakaul.
He said the national government had allocated funds for it but there was little to show.
He was responding to reports last week that K10 million had been allocated to the project but he was stopping other sources of funding.
He said only K5 million had been received and questioned where the rest of the money had gone to.
“I am concerned that East New Britain is missing out on a lot of returns from the fisheries project, of which the provincial government owns 51%,” he said.
“The developer is patiently waiting for the National Fisheries Authority to grant its 20 operating licences.”
He said the developer had been in the province since 2004 after failing to be granted fishing licences and appealed for leniency and recognition from the national government.
Dion said the provincial government was helping the developer refocus some of its activities through the provincial divisions of fisheries and commerce, apart from its mandated fishing activity such as inland fish farming.
He believed the developer was owed money by the national government from taxes and urged national line agencies to exempt the developer from taxation.