PNG Port has no say in prices: Exec

By CLARISSA MOI
PNG Ports Corporation Ltd does not have any jurisdiction over the charges imposed by shipping liners, agents or stakeholders operating businesses in its 15 declared ports. Managing director Fego Kiniafa was responding to concerns raised by the Farmers and Settlers Association with regards to wharfage and tonnage fees charged by PNG Ports, and stevedoring and handling fees charged by the terminal operator International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) South Pacific. “This is wholly their commercial business decision which PNG Ports has no say over,” he said.
“Any concerns regarding their charges should be taken up with these stakeholders.”  Kiniafa said PNG Ports was regulated by the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) under the ICCC Act 2002. It implies that the ICCC regulates the prices that PNG Ports sets for its essential port services of wharfage, berthage, berth reservation, stevedoring access and services connected to the regulated services under a five-year regulatory contract. “The ICCC sets tariff adjustment mechanism, service standard requirements, regulatory principles and the regulatory term.”