BSP confirmed today that three of its ATMs were damaged during the festive season, including the one at Lorengau Hospital.
The Lorengau Hospital ATM is one of four BSP ATMs in Lorengau and the destruction caused is irreparable and will cause great inconvenience to the people of Lorengau.
General Manager Retail, Daniel Faunt, expressed his disappointment that criminals deliberately vandalised and destroyed an ATM without any regard to the impact on people in the area, many of whom would be known to the criminals.
“BSP is the only commercial bank that provides services to the people of Manus Province and the only bank to have ATMs in Lorengau,” said Faunt.
Faunt added that there were some minor damages done to ATMs at Wewak and Kiunga during the Christmas and New Year period as well.
The destruction of the ATMs comes only a month after a robbery at BSP’s Kerema sub branch that has resulted in Kerema Branch being closed until criminal investigations are completed. At the same, there was also an attempted robbery at BSP’s sub branch at Hoskins.
BSP Group CEO Robin Fleming commented that in all three (3) locations, Kerema, Hoskins and Lorengau, BSP is the only bank that has been willing to provide banking services to these areas despite the cost of operations and, where robberies are involved, it poses high risks to BSP’s staff.
“BSP does all it can to provide services to customers and non-customers alike around PNG notwithstanding the cost of doing so. This responsibility is carried by BSP disproportionately with other banks choosing only to operate where it is profitable to do so,” Mr Fleming.
Faunt further commented that BSP staff had been proactively monitoring its ATM fleet over the Christmas and New Year period with more than 100 staff country wide working overtime to top up ATMs with cash and attend to the ATMs to keep as many as possible operational during this period.
“Therefore, the destruction of the ATM at Lorengau was even more disappointing.”
(The badly damaged ATM of Lorengau Hospital)