Minister for Transport, William Samb has called on the Government to increase the grants allocated to the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) annually.
He made this call when presenting the NMSA Report in Parliament yesterday. Mr Samb said the Government grant to NMSA was to the tune of only K2 million on average annually.
“I would like to seek support from the Finance Minister to ensure that sufficient funding is always made available to NMSA so the Authority is able to fully execute its functions of maritime safety and protection of marine environment,” he said.
Mr Samb said due to insufficient Government funding, and the need to sustain its operations as a statutory authority, NMSA has appealed to the shipping industry for the revision of the levies and fees that it annually collects from the shipping industry.
“These levies and fees are used by the Authority to fund its maritime safety programs and activities. This also caters for maintenance, repair and up keeping of navigational infrastructures and establishing the maritime technology to satisfy the international maritime requirements,” he said.
Mr Samb stated that keeping the navigational lights alight to provide safer passage of vessels travelling in our waters and moving passengers and cargoes to and fro is of critical importance.
“For this reason, the levies and fees collected by NMSA are significant for them to provide service to the stakeholders in the industry and the people of PNG in fulfilling its overall mandate.
“The levies and fees collected are not for profit generation but to ensure the maritime industry operates in the best environment to serve our people with the movements of cargoes and people.”
In addition, the Minister said ensuring safety of navigation for both domestic and international shipping vessels and to cater for emergencies such as oil spill, search and rescue to save lives at sea is critical.