K62mil to manage projects

By KELVIN JOE
A LOCALLY-OWNED company has been awarded a multimillion kina contract to manage and supervise roadworks in coastal provinces over the next five years, according to Government House.
Sir Bob Dadae signed the K62 million contract for JBS Consulting Engineers Ltd to provide project management and supervision services for the infrastructure maintenance and construction work in Mamose, Southern and New Guinea Islands, on Thursday in Port Moresby.
The project is funded by the Australia Government, through the Australian aid under the Transport Sector Support Programme (TSSP) phase 2.
Department of Works and Highways (DoWH) deputy secretary Gibson Holemba said it was a milestone for a local company to be given recognition by the Australian and PNG governments.
“That is a significant benchmark aligned to the Marape Government’s Take back PNG policy to support local businesses,” he said.
JBS managing director Justin Sarimbu thanked both governments and the DoWH for awarding his firm the contract.
He said when dealing with Australian aid funded projects, there were stringent processes that had to be compiled with to qualify for such contracts, with safeguard issues taking high prominence to ensure the outcomes were delivered on time, within budget and without compromising safety and environmental issues.
Sarimbu, a civil engineer by profession, said the company would support the DoWH with the effective and efficient planning and delivery of road maintenance and rehabilitation contracts funded through the TSSP programme.
“We will help strengthen the DoWH’s capacity in engineering, scoping, procurement, supervision and administration of road construction and maintenance works contracts, through the provision of technical support and on-the-job mentoring and training of the DoWH staff,” he said.
He said JBS took pride in building roads and bridges across PNG.
“We are grateful to the Australian Government and the DoWH for executing the contract after a lengthy procurement process since its public tender in August 2019,” he said.
The 10 provinces under the TSSP programme for the company and the DoWH to manage are East Sepik, West Sepik, Madang, Morobe, West New Britain, East New Britain, New Ireland, Central, Milne Bay, and Northern.