Maritime communities facing transport issues

Letters

DEAR Secretary Roy Mumu, I write to you in your role as the person responsible for the transport sector in Papua New Guinea.
The government of PNG has passed SMEs policies to help people participate in small businesses.
I want to know if the Department of Transport (DOT) has plans and strategies in place to support and implement the SME policies?
How can your department support SMEs?
Do you have any plans to promote the SME participation of maritime people at grassroots level?
People in the maritime regions are suffering because there are no decent public maritime transport or shipping services.
There are probably 2.5 people in our maritime region, but the Government has not since independence provided them with a viable transportation system.
Accessing basic goods and services are difficult and expensive.
Many lives are lost at sea and waterways every year.
Nowadays people are using expensive and dangerous banana boats and dugout canoes to access basic goods and services for their families and communities.
Piracy is a serious problem and people have been terrorised or lost their life at sea because of pirates.
In Milne Bay we built small boats to provide services to our people but it is becoming difficult to run them because of a lack of facilities and services to support these SME activities.
GoPNG through DOT is not doing anything about public maritime shipping services and maritime SMEs activities and financing.

Johnston Butilelewa
Misima Island