Alotau town, the capital of Milne Bay Province, like many other towns in the country has been experiencing continuous power outages over the last few months.
This has affected the normal livelihood of the general public.
Member for Alotau Open, Ricky Morris was one of the attendees of a public forum hosted by the Milne Bay Chamber of Commerce at Masurina Lodge in Alotau.
The purpose of this forum was to outline the challenges faced by business owners and the public at large, due to power outages and to discuss and agree on resolutions to improve PNG Power Limited’s power supply generation in Alotau.
Being the only present Milne Bay Member of Parliament at yesterday’s (1 May 2024) discussions, Morris assured the participants of the forum that he stands ready to represent the people in ensuring the resolutions agreed upon reach relevant decision makers for it to be approved and actioned.
During his address to the public, MP Morris said that his electorate has tried to mitigate this issue by ensuring they assist in paying for fuel and by making funds available for PPL to purchase a new generator.
Morris also clarified to the business owners, stakeholders and concerned citizens that the 4 million kina made available by Milne Bay Governor Gordon Wesley will assist in addressing this issue.
In the meantime, the public forum achieved its purpose with the majority of participants agreeing on two main resolutions. The first point is for the Provincial Government to review PNG Power Limited’s performance in Alotau township and to review other alternative power suppliers and the second being the purchase of 6 new power generators from the 4 million kina.
These outlined resolutions will then be documented by the Milne Bay Chamber of Commerce and presented to the Provincial Government.
MP Morris is adamant about supporting this cause to find long-term resolutions to this long standing issue