Lae port ‘stopping’ development

THE Lae port is a “severe impediment” to development in Lae, the highlands, Mamose region and Papua New Guinea, Independent Public Business Corporation managing director Thomas Abe told an international business conference yesterday.
It posed severe logistic problems for businesses, in particular the liquefied natural gas project and had added significantly to the project’s cost, Abe said.
In the past 12 months, IPBC has embarked on a very significant programme of infrastructure development that was designed to remedy the worst of the nation’s immediate shortcomings, including a major expansion of the Lae port.
Work is now under way on the Lae port, with a K730 million tidal basin, berth and container terminal being built.
It is funded 30% by the state, through IPBC, and 70% by the Asian Development Bank.
Lae port is the most important port in the country, accounting for 60% of the nation’s trade, and has become one of the busiest in the south-western Pacific.
The expansion, once completed in 2015, will eliminate congestion, make the port much more efficient and will lower costs.
“Development of new projects and businesses – in resources, industry and agriculture – in the Highlands-Mamose region will be a much more attractive proposition,” he said.