SHP icon in total darkness

By YVONNE HAIP
The Southern Highlands provincial icon, Agiru Centre and its office complex are in darkness after PNG Power cut supply yesterday over the failure to pay bills.
In addition, the centre’s telephone lines have been cut and staff are frustrated, saying they cannot do their jobs without electricity and telephones.
The centre houses offices of the provincial administration, health and education divisions, among others,
Attempts to find out what is owed and how long bills have been overdue were unsuccessful yesterday.
Concerned public servants and people said the disconnections were because there was nobody to authorise payments.
They said this was an embarrassment for the provincial administration, especially with the developments taking place there and brought on by the multi-million kina gas project.
They said with the general election looming and the separation of Hela into a new province, such problems must be avoided.
They questioned how such an embarrassment had been allowed to take place.
They said the province was home to a major pro­ject that would change the face of the country and power outages and communication problems there were a disaster.
Another concerned citizen said too many public servants held acting positions.
He said people should be given substantive posts if they had proven they could do the job.
It is understood the elevator in the seven-storey Agiru Centre has not been working for over a decade.