Department of Transport

The Department of Transport terminated 3 members of the Weather Service Working Committee for pushing the agenda of their salary discrepancies.

The Public Employees Association is concerned in the penal actions taken to terminate 3 members of the working committee and imposing a fine on all the NWS staff for taking part in the strikes organised by NWS between 2017 and 2018.

National Weather Service officers, following their March 16^th petition to the Transport Department, have waited for 3 weeks for the Department to rectify the workers’ 9-year salary discrepancy issue.

The 21-day notice served to the Department of Transport lapsed yesterday (April 5) thus, nationwide strike is the only option the weather officers will resort to at 4:06pm today if nothing favourable transpires now until close of business.

Statistical data from the Department of Transport (DoT) on scheduled international passenger traffic to and from Port Moresby from 2012 to 2016 has been stagnant at an average of about 480,000 passengers per year.

Mumu explained that this is an average of 55 percent seat utilisation, meaning there is excess capacity in the market.

Mumu revealed this at the Southwest Pacific Dialogue (SwPD) 2nd Sub-Regional Workshop on connectivity development underway in Port Moresby.