Govt owes PPL K30mil: Exec

GOVERNMENT owes PNG Power Ltd (PPL) about K30 million in unpaid electricity bills, says PPL executive general manager for retail Kingston Albert.
Albert said PNG Power was discussing with the Government how to settle the debt. It is now slowly paying it off.
PNG Power has given notices to more than 1,000 government departments.
“We’ve given notices to all government departments,” Albert told The National.
“We are negotiating with them at the moment. We understand their situation but we also request them to understand our situation as well as our operations need cash.
“These are bills that they are supposed to pay.
“Of course, we as a government-owned entity are mindful of that.
“The Government has about K30 million in dues.
“It was high but they have actually paid us a lot last month.
“But as we go on, it just continues to build up again.”
PNG Power is undertaking a mass disconnection exercise for its industrial customers found to be tampering with credit meters and paying less bills.
This includes government departments, state-owned enterprises, manufacturers and commercial retailers.
The disconnected industrial customers will be charged a reconnection fee of K10,000, pay all outstanding debts and an additional advance bill for a month before electricity supply is restored.