New sewerage system to cut impact on environment

THE inauguration of the Port Moresby sewerage system on Friday will see less impact caused on the environment and marine life, Minister for Public Enterprise and State Investments William Duma says.
It is the only modern sewerage system developed in the Pacific.
Duma, who launched the project with the ambassador of Japan to PNG, Satoshi Nakajima, said the project cost around K400 million and was funded by the governments of PNG and Japan through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
He said the project showed the robust and genuine relationship that existed between the two countries.
Duma said the Port Moresby was a coastline city with rich marine inhabitants, large mangroves systems, pristine coral reefs, sea grass beds and sandy beaches.
He said the city was experiencing rapid growth in population.
Previously, untreated sewerage from the Port Moresby south catchment area had been disposed directly into the sea at Ela Beach but with the development of the treatment facility at Joyce Bay, near Kilakila, sewage would be treated and refined and then sent into the open sea off the shores of Joys Bay.
“This has put more pressure on one of our vital infrastructures in the city, the sewerage system, especially the volume of untreated sewage in the city being discharged into city’s coastline,” Duma said.
“This will protect our ecosystem. This will be a future guarantee for generations to come and it will also help increase the potential we have in tourism activities.
“These major infrastructure projects under the O’Neill Government have helped our city become a safer and better city to live in. The new sewerage project help us to properly treat our waste before discharging them into the sea.”