State restructuring SOEs

 By HELEN TARAWA

The National Government is in the process of restructuring the ownership of all state-owned entities to build capacity and take advantage of the mineral and resources projects, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says.

O’Neill, in response to questions by Kandep MP Don Polye in Parliament last Friday, said all mining interests would be put into one company called the Kumul Mineral.

“We are in the process of restructuring the ownership of all SOEs to build capacity and experience, taking advantage of the values that we have in all the projects we got.

“Shares were parked in many different entities, and as a result, we were building small empires everywhere that were serving the individuals running those organisations,” O’Neill said.

“We are now trying to put all the mining interest into one company, we are trying to put all our petroleum and gas interests into another.

“Then we can train our geologists, engineers and our professionals who are going to manage these assets for us into the long term so that they can continue to benefit our people.”

Polye’s question during grievance debate was on the Ok Tedi Mining Ltd’s assets since becoming a state-owned entity.

He  questioned whether contracts by OTML were approved by the Independent Public Business Corporation board now that it was a state-owned entity and covered by the IPBC Act. 

Public Enterprises and State Investments Minister Ben Micah, commenting on the questions by Polye, said as part of the Kumul structure, all mineral assets and investments of the government will be housed in Kumul Mineral.

He said Ok Tedi Investment, Freida Copper, Panguna and Wafi will all be housed there as part of the plan.

“Ok Tedi is just one, there are many mines waiting to be developed,” Micah said.