MV Ialibu charging too much, say passengers

PASSENGERS travelling on Lutheran Shippings Services vessel mv Ialibu are complaining that the fare and freight charges are too expensive.
Passengers who were interviewed compared the freight and ticket costs with those of the dinghies, saying it was just too much for them to pay.
They are calling on the authorities, especially the MPs for Finschhafen, Tewai Siassi and Kabwum districts, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church to have another look at the pricing.
MV Ialibu made its first passenger run yesterday from Lae to Finschhafen, Sialum, Wasu and Siassi after its launch in February this year.
Passengers Debra Nawak and Kasai Yana, of Siassi, said ticket fees are okay for different categories of passengers but the freight charges for cargo were too much. Both passengers said they paid K120 in freight charges for four bags of clothes, which would only cost K40 on a dingy.
“We are calling on the management of Lutheran Shipping Services to reconsider the charges,” they said.
A passenger from Wasu Singon Kumbi compared the ticket fee of K200 to K150 on a dinghy. “I am taking the ship because I have lots of cargoes that cannot be transported via a dinghy and I paid K280 for the freight,” Kumbi said.
The passengers said there was no proper weighing machine to work out the exact weight of the cargo.
Officers at the terminal are weighing cargoes by simply lifting them and estimating the weight and freight.
A spokesman for mv Ialibu, Paul Aisawa, said the freight and ticket prices were reasonable.
Aisawa is the general manager of Irock Shipping Services, which managed mv Ialibu.