MP: Generators expensive to maintain

POWER generators acquired by the previous Government, led by Peter O’Neill, have proved too expensive to operate and maintain, says State Enterprises Minister Sasindran Muthuvel.
Muthuvel made the remarks in response to a question from Northern Governor Gary Juffa on the status of the machines.
Juffa asked Muthuvel to tell Parliament where the generators were and whether they were being used.
He said the two generators were bought for K70 million from an Israeli company for the purpose of ending the power outages and load shedding in Port Moresby.
Muthuvel agreed that the generators had been bought at high price.
He said the generators’ diesel consumption was so high that using it would be impractical costing millions of kina if they were to be used.
Both generators had a combined output of 30 megawatts.
“It is a huge liability on the part of using diesel to run these two generators,” he said.
“One is in working condition and the other is not.”
Muthuvel said the US government had assured the Government that it would fund the servicing and repair of the generator in Houston, Texas.