New power generators operating, O’Neill says

 PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill says the two K140 million generators bought from Israel are running.

He told Parliament the country would soon be benefitting from proceeds of the first 50 cargo from the LNG project.

He was responding to questions from deputy Opposition leader Sam Basil, who asked about the status of the “second-hand” generators, and the gas proceeds.

“They are not second-hand generators,” O’Neill said.

“Those generators have already been installed.

“One of them has been installed at Kanudi. If we had not installed those generators, we would be living in darkness.

“One is already in operation and it’s supplying power to Port Moresby.

“The second one is at Lae port and it’s now being connected and commissioned.

“There are advertisements in the paper saying that there will be power disruptions in Lae because of the commissioning of the generator.

“In Lae city, 25 megawatts of power will be available very soon so that we can have some reliable power into Lae.”

O’Neill said money from the LNG exports was being parked overseas because ExxonMobil had to get clearance from the lenders first.

“I am advised as of last Thursday that monies are starting to come into the country. Our share will be distributed at the same time as all the other stakeholders,” he said.