Richard Maru, the Member for Yangoru- Saussia district in East Sepik province, has just been made the minister responsible for PNG Power Limited (PPL), and now looks forward to resuscitating the State-owned entity.
Maru, who is also the Minister for International Trade and Investment, spoke at the official hand- over- take- over ceremony of the Ministry in Port Moresby yesterday at the PPL Head Office, where he put it out straight to the staff and management that the power company is in a very desperate situation and requires some very tough decisions to bring it back to form.
“We are going to make some very firm decisions. I’ll be bringing to the government some very firm proposals about the future. We cannot do business the same way and expect a different result,” said the minister.
He hinted that these proposals could include partial privatisation and drastic cuts on loans from big lenders.
Maru thanked the State Enterprise Minister William Duma for his great efforts in running PPL thus far while it was under his care. He pledged to carry on from here but doing things differently going forward.
PPL has legacy issues that the minister highlighted such as poor revenue generation, aging infrastructures resulting in poor power service to customers and management issues that have sometimes hindered services over the years.
The State entity issues also include rural power supply using generators that are not making money in some urban towns and rural areas. Most of the time these areas face power disruptions on a regular basis affecting public institutions, schools and hospitals, residential areas and businesses.
This occurs despite customers continuing to pay for power with a tariff that is set over 20toea, which Minister Maru said was a bit too high.
All these coupled with the fact that PPL is cash strapped; it is time for a radical change and Minister Maru is just the man for the job, having experience in such matters. Hence, his appointment as the new minister responsible for the entity.
“The company is insolvent; we have to fix it," he said.
"We must not accept the status quo; we must do something we haven’t done in the last thirty (30) years. Tough decisions to be made will be made. That much I can assure you.”
Maru is not new to resurrecting insolvent companies. “When I was in NDB (National Development Bank), I was tasked to go into a bank which was insolvent; I go it fixed in six months.”
Having that experience, he intends to at least make some difference in less than 10 months before the 2027 National General Election.
It is going to be a big task because PNG Power has a debt of K1.2billion and outstanding electricity billings worth around K400million. On top of that, 26% of PPL sales do not make money due to power theft (illegal connections) and technical losses.
“This is the true position and strength of this company,” Minister Maru plainly stated.
Nevertheless, Minister Maru believes strongly that with the right leadership direction and guidance, PNG Power can do much more in providing a vital service to customers and at the same time, make revenue to sustain its operations.
