People want answers: MP

By GYNNIE KERO
EAST Sepik Governor Allan Bird says MPs are being blamed for the poor performance of State-owned entities like PNG Power Ltd (PPL).
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Bird said his people questioned him and the province’s MPs whenever they experienced power outages.
“Over the last 12 months, people have been complaining of a lack of power in areas where we do have power,” he said.
“In East Sepik, when there’s no power, they (people) don’t ask PNG Power, they ask the governor, the Wewak MP (Kevin Isifu) and Maprik MP (John Simon), why no power?
“The lack of performance of a state enterprise is blamed on MPs who had no control over the operations of such an entity.
“We (provincial government) have discussed with them (PPL) and they asked us to purchase a new generator which should relieve a lot of our power problems once it arrives.”
Bird said he understood that PNG Power was struggling to buy fuel from week to week because of the cash flow issues.
“Four weeks ago, we (provincial government) were almost going to get fuel for PPL, because the people basically said you (governor) go buy fuel and they (PPL) will supply us power.
“We need to fix this issue.
“What are our plans to rectify this issue?”
State Enterprises Minister William Duma said legacy and management issues were some factors which contributed to PNG Power’s current status.
“We have been looking at problems faced by people in East Sepik,” he said.
“I met with the manager (PPL Wewak branch) three weeks ago, and I realised there’s lack of constant communications between headquarters in Port Moresby and managers serving out there (in provinces).”
Duma added that a review would be undertaken on people engaged in commercial areas.