Weeklong power outage in Manus

Manus Province has been without power for over a week now.

In a statement issued on April 4th, PNG Power Lorengau advised residents that the power station will be shut down for an indefinite period due to a delay in fuel shipment into the province by the supplier. 

Owner of Pokapin Fuel Service Station, Betty Pokapin, described the dilemma as a “frustrating situation” that is costing them their business and livelihood.

“Usually, we can make K1,000 in a day but now, we are really down to just K30 or K27,” she revealed.

“There are no customers because we depend on electricity to run our three pumps at the back; one for diesel, another for pure petrol and kerosene.”

Pokapin further said the continuous interruptions to the power supply also damaged their standby generator.

“We are really affected and we lost our daily customers.

“We also supply Bank South Pacific, which is our corporate client.”

President of the Manus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sebastian Sapau, said the impact of the weeklong power outage on business houses is disastrous.

The outage has also affected water supply as electricity is needed to power the Water PNG genset.

“It’s not only affected the business houses but also the general public and households and of course, communications – NBC and other media. Of course, Air Niugini is affected. There are a lot of stakeholders who are affected by this power outage.

“It has raised a public outcry, they have raised a concern now that the Manus Chamber of Commerce, we have to act on behalf of our members and bring this issue up with PNG Power and see where PNG Power stands.

“As it is, business houses in Manus are really impacted to the point that some are actually shutting out during the day and it’s really not helping at all with business operations in general in Manus.”

The MCCI recently met with the PPL Lorengau manager, and were assured that power should be restored in the next couple of days “if things work out from the head office in Port Moresby”. 

Author: 
Loop author