The Business Council of Papua New Guinea is shocked that the business houses in Port Moresby were not protected on Wednesday, 10th January, losing properties in fire and huge damages through looting.
BCPNG president, Susil Nelson-Kongoi recounted how business houses in Port Moresby lost millions of kina in just one day.
She said the private sector and businesses pay hefty fees and incur enormous costs to operate in the country.
President Kongoi has called on the government to put security measures and tougher penalties in place to protect the retailers from the loss and damages caused by violence as seen yesterday.
“The business affected yesterday will not only impact the owners, but every person employed and will also put a strain on the government’s revenue”.
She stated that PNG is already a difficult destination for investments and needs the private sector retailers to do business here.
“All businesses attacked yesterday are PNG businesses which are home grown, employ Papua New Guineans and one person employed has a ripple effect of feeding ten”, said Mrs. Kongoi.
Owners of retail shops in NCD have expressed their concerns stating that the retailers feed and clothe, bear the burdens of the foreign exchange restrictions to keep things running.
“Companies such as City Pharmacy Limited, Brian Bell and others have kept afloat through lines of credit and supplier trust but have lost some supplier partners because of the country’s burden.”
“All this looting will have consequences for the business sector,” Kongoi added.
BCPNG has been the peak body representing the private sector in the country across all sectors, promoting the importance and role of economic growth, freedom, and enterprise.