Power disconnected in parliament

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Power has been disconnected from Papua New Guinea’s Government House and Parliament House because of outstanding bills.

The Post Courier reports that the electricity service provider PNG Power started its disconnection exercise on Tuesday this week, forcing some government institutions to close.

The Acting Parliament Clerk Kala Aufa confirmed the power cut – saying he was forced to order fuel to get the standby generator going.

Power was also cut to other institutions in Port Moresby, including the police headquarters and a health centre.

Acting Governor-General Theodore Zurenuoc, who is also the Speaker, was about to go to Parliament House when advised at the Government House gate that the parliament building was also in the dark for non-payment of bills, prompting him to stop work and tell staff to go home.

Aufa said the government owed PNG Power 600,000 kina (NZ$263,000) but he was unable to settle the bill as all payments for utilities are now controlled by the Department of Finance.

He said he is concerned similar actions will be taken against the government by telecommunication and water service providers Telikom and Eda Ranu, if their bills are not settled by Finance soon.

Similarly, the Department of Police has outstanding power bills of 300,000 kina, resulting in the disconnection of police headquarters.

The Post-Courier said attempts to contact the Finance Minister James Marape were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader, Don Polye, in a statement blamed the government for the cash flow problem the country was going through as a result of mismanagement of funds that is affecting the entire government system.

- PNC