NDB upgrades Wewak office

By ANCILLA WRAKUALE
NATIONAL Development Bank (NDB) has major plans on improving its current branch office buildings in preparation for the proposed NDB microbank.
NDB Wewak branch in East Sepik will be the first to undergo this new deve­lopment with the construction of a modern two-storey building.
The bank yesterday signed a K4.9 million contract with Jurudaya Construction (PNG) Ltd for the construction of the building.
The current NDB office in Wewak will be relocated to a temporary location while Jurudaya will demolish the building and give it a brand new modern face.
The construction work will take 48 weeks and will start in a month’s time.
Managing director Richard Maru congratulated Jurudaya construction for winning the tender and appealed to them to work hard and deliver the project on time.
Maru said the downstairs part of the building would house the proposed NDB microbank while upstairs would be leased out as office spaces.
Maru said the province also had the highest number of customers utilising NDB microbank services.
“This is an historical move for NDB as it is the start of the building plans ahead,” Maru said.
He said they decided to start with Wewak because there was a delay with the NCD land and building board so they could not start soon with the Boroko office
“Apart from the Wewak office, NDB will also be awarding contracts for the Madang and Boroko offices.
“We will be spending K15 million in our current office upgrade programme as we prepare to roll out our proposed NDB microbank operations,” Maru said.
He said that the office upgrade programme was made possible by K20 million from the national government.
Meanwhile, managing director of Jurudaya (PNG) Construction Ltd Jimmy Poh said they were confident they would complete the building before the deadline.
Jurudaya construction is a Malaysian construction company with more than 20 years experience in building and construction.