They are just doing their job

 LAST Friday two PNG Power Ltd (PPL) workers were reported to have been badly beaten by staff at the PNG Correctional Services headquarters at Hohola in the National Capital District. 

The PPL switching officer and his assistant were merely carrying out directions from top management when they became victims of irrational and violent public servants.

The pair had arrived to a hostile reception at the CS headquarters and requested backup from the PNG Power security and their other colleagues who arrived and stood by as the pair proceeded to disconnect power to the CS offices.

PNG Power chief executive officer John Tangit condemned the incident, saying his staff had been physically assaulted by CS officers.

Three days later on Tuesday, thugs attacked another group of PPL workers at the notorious Morata 1 settlement in the NCD who were attending to a customer’s complaint.

The criminals reportedly stole their personal belongings, including safety boots.

Tangit issued another statement condemning this attack, saying that such behaviour toward his staff only affected PNG Power’s attempts to provide a reliable power supply to its customers in the nation’s capital.

The CEO also urged the community leaders and residents of Morata 1 to help identify the criminals involved in the attack.  

Community leaders should take heed of Tangit’s call 

and identity the thugs and bring them to face the full force of the law.  

We hope this will happen so that it will show the community’s stand against such behaviour and reassure PNG Power management that its staff can continue to operate in Morata without fear of further attacks.

In the Correctional Service’s case, the money owed by its headquarters and provincial jails currently totals K1.3 million. That’s a lot of money to owe in unpaid electricity bills.

Any business or organisation owed that much money will resort to drastic measures to recoup it and the decision by PNG Power to disconnect power supplies is nothing out of the ordinary. 

However, PNG Power had the courtesy to forewarn CS and its other clients, including the PNG Defence Force and the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, about its action to recover monies owed.

The CS and Morata 1 incidents were different in nature – one involved a government agency’s inability to settle its large electricity debt and the other was a callous criminal act.

However, both incidents were uncalled for and those culprits who manhandled the PPL technicians have no regard for their fellow citizens who were merely carrying out the instructions of their management.  

If those two PNG Power technicians had any personal choices they would not have walked into the CS premises and proceeded to disconnect the power supply. And their other colleagues would have done the same and not risked their lives and property by venturing into a crime-infested area like Morata 1.

Duty to their employer required these technicians to virtually walk into what turned out to be an ambush and an attack. 

The attack on these innocent and hardworking PNG Power workers should be condemned by our leaders and the wider community. That kind of behaviour should not be condoned.

The public’s frustration over erratic and unreliable electricity services is understandable but that is not a valid reason to cause physical harm to workers of PNG Power or other public utility companies such as Eda Ranu and PNG Telikom.

The electricity supplier has come under heavy criticism, especially by consumers in Port Moresby and Lae where power blackouts have becoming a regular occurrence. 

The reasons for this have been a legacy of PNG Power over the years but hopefully these issues are being tackled by the board and management.

Nonetheless, debts running into millions of kina do not help at all and is one of the main reasons PNG Power is struggling to keep its head above water.

As a state-owned enterprise, PNG Power has been overly patient and considerate to many of its government clients, including the Correctional Services.  

Indeed, the CS management owes PPL a public apology for the inconsiderate actions of its officers. It would be in their interests to mend their relationship with the power entity.