William Duma

Duma said in Parliament today that SOEs must not enjoy monopolies.

He made this statement following comments from Ijivitari MP David Arore who called on Water PNG to establish water reservoirs in Popondetta town.

Duma said that among all the water centres that are being operated by Water PNG, only Lae, Kokopo and Mt Hagen are profitable.

All other centres are regarded as social services and Northern Province falls into that category.

“This reflects the competence of all our SOEs.

The minister responsible for State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) was responding to Questions without Notice from Southern Highlands Governor William Powi during Parliament question time this morning.

 Powi asked the minister to give an update on the disagreement by the PPL workers and it's union. "There is no industrial dispute arising from terms and condition of our employees of the company," Duma said.

 "There is no agenda of this government to sell this company to foreigners, reduce terms and conditions of employees or retrenchment."