Parliament House caught in blackout

By ISAAC NICHOLAS
PARLIAMENT was forced to adjourn to today after a power blackout plunged the chamber into darkness.
It happened as Public Enterprises Minister Sir Mekere Morauta was making a statement on the status of state-owned enterprises (SOE).
Lae MP and Public Service Minister Bart Philemon, who was the first speaker to talk on the issue, was caught in the blackout forcing leader of government business Moses Mala­dina to adjourn the session.
Sir Mekere said like its sister
state-owned enterprises, PNG Power was paralysed by a lack of capital. 
“It is literally stumbling in the dark, intermittent power being provided thanks to the ingenuity and skills
of its linesmen and technicians,” he said.
“PNG Power requires major surgery and a major capital injection.”
Sir Mekere said cabinet had a number of submissions before it which, when implemented, should transform the electricity industry and introduce partners for PNG Power to assist in power generation. 
“These projects will greatly increase capacity and provide solutions for the energy requirements of Port Moresby, Lae, Morobe, Madang, Western and all the Highlands provinces, as well as provide a base for the export of power and for huge industrial expansion from the power to be generated by a hydro scheme on the Purari River,’’ he said.
“Taken together, these projects will solve the country’s power problems for scores of years ahead, and PNG Power will be an active participant in this bright future.”
Sir Mekere said the picture he had painted of the major SOEs looked depressing, and unfortunately it was.