K78mil tuna plant opens

 By MALUM NALU 

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill says the riches of the country are not only restricted to mining, oil and gas.

He said this yesterday when opening a US$35 million (K78.3 million) fish cannery at Malahang in Lae, which will employ up to 2,500 people, mainly women from the local villages and settlements.

Morobe Governor Kelly Naru, Fisheries Minister Mao Zeming and other dignitaries also attended the opening.

The cannery is owned by Majestic Seafood Corporation, a joint venture comprising Thai Union Manufacturing Company of Thailand, Century Group of Philippines and Frabelle Fishing Group of the Philippines.

It is a fully-integrated company with a fishing fleet, unchartered agreement with various fishing companies who will unload tuna in Lae, cold storage with a capacity of 1,200 tonnes, and a can-making facility.

“This (riches) are not only restricted to mining, oil and gas sectors,” O’Neill told hundreds of people who gathered at Malahang on the Queen’s Birthday holiday.

“Papua New Guinea has enjoyed this economic stability for the last 10 years, and hopefully, in the future.

“We are now experiencing growth in our economy.

“We must never allow this growth to stop.

“We are also mindful that investments like this give to our people, especially in small-medium enterprises.

“These become available because of big investments like this.”

Thai Union managing director Cheng Niruttinanon said the event was a milestone development with the support of the three companies, people of Lae, Morobe provincial government, and the PNG government.

“Behind me is the fully-constructed and operational first phase of the Majestic Seafoods factory,” he said.

“In the first two years of our operation, we intend to generate about 1,500 direct jobs and about 1.5 million cases of canned tuna for export.

“In order to achieve this, we will need to process more than 30,000 metric tonnes of tuna annually, tuna caught right here in the bountiful waters of PNG, under watchful eyes.”