Local company snubbed

Lae News, Normal
Source:

By RIGGO NANGAN

A LOCAL company specialising in the repair of heavy machinery hydraulic cylinders says it has been snubbed by PNG mining companies who look overseas instead, for their repairs skipping import and export taxes in the process.
Earthquip PNG Ltd, a Lae based specialist engineering company which did repairs on excavators, bulldozers, wheel (front-end) loaders, tippers, cranes and mining trucks, said mining companies were skipping taxes and also not adhering to their commitments to benefit the local communities.  
It said mining companies in PNG were sending their cylinders for repairs offshore with zero tariffs and the PNG government not pushing them to use local knowledge. 
A submission to the government in July 2004, to apply a 40% tariff on export and import of damaged cylinders, had yet to be addressed. 
A member of the Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Earthquip had been operating for 12 years with specialties in hard chrome plating repairs, line boring, hydraulic hose sales and repairs, honing, grinding, re-chroming, disassemble, testing and reassembling of cylinders including RH200 rams and 789 cylinder rods.
The company said it had done jobs for different people but not as much as it had anticipated.
Proprietor-director David Warriner said mining companies in PNG, had “only” pledged opportunities.
He contacted parent companies of the mining companies in Australia and Canada with the aim of securing jobs but was unsuccessful.
Warriner said mining companies were exporting local work opportunities like cylinder repairs which also led to loss of second tier developments for local companies.
“This also goes to mean that local companies were underestimated as not being qualified enough to do such jobs,” Warriner said.  
Snubbing local expertise contradicted the mine developer’s corporate responsibility to “bring employment opportunities to the areas around the mine sites, which are typical in isolated areas”.
In one of the major miner’s policies, it stated that “it is committed to the local communities to give them benefit for jobs, salaries, capital expenditures, local purchase of goods and services and payments of taxes and royalties”.
The company provides internationally recognised training for local apprentices.