Madang Province is the only maritime province out of 15 in Papua New Guinea, that has yet to implement or enforce any regulations under the Smallcraft Act 2011.
According to Willie Kolip, Madang’s Small Craft Officer with the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA), they are still waiting for the Provincial Government to pass the Small Crafts Bill so that a board can be elected; after that, the appointment of a Registrar to implement or enforce the process.
“We have done our part, I have written to the Provincial Office last month stating to them what we need to pass the bill to set up a Small Crafts Board. We at the National Maritime Safety Authority are only responsible to coordinate and assist this policy. It is the Provincial Government that will license, implement, enforce and take it to the next level,” Mr. Kolip said.
Kolip is in charge of five maritime provinces in the Momase Region; Oro, Morobe, Madang, East Sepik and Sandaun. He said since 2015 the other four provinces have done awareness, rolled out and implemented the Small Craft Policy and it is very sad to see that Madang is far from that, despite being being one of the first to launch the policy.
The Small Crafts Policy captures many benefits for boat operators, owners, National Disaster Office, police and NMSA. As with many cases of missing boats (search and rescue) and sea piracy, boats that are licensed will be easy to track and forward information for further investigations. Furthermore, in terms of safety equipment’s and awareness, passengers will be properly geared to travel.
Kolip affirms that Madang also has the highest number of reported deaths, missing boats, piracy and accidents related to sea travelling and Small Crafts. The NMSA hopes that the government of the day can look into this outdated issue and advance into the next phase of this policy.