AWAL STILL COMING TO PNG : MIRINGTORO

COMMUNICATION Minister Jimmy Miringtoro has assured the people that Awal’s K800 million A-Tel mobile company will still come and set up in Papua New Guinea at their time convenient. Mr Miringtoro told Post -Courier yesterday that the said month of July that was communicated to PNG for their set up was a holy month and executives travelled to Medina to say thank you to Allah, their God.

"I must assure that Awal is still coming to Papua New Guinea in fact, last month, was a Holy Month…they went to Medina, to say thank you to Allah," Mr Miringtoro said.

"Awal will still make it to PNG to roll out their full mobile program because they already have the licenses which the full board of NICTA (National Information & Communications Technology Authority) awarded them three licenses after vigorous screening. We must have all the hope and believe in them. They will still come to PNG to invest," he said.

"Awal came to look for investment opportunities and we met with relevant authorities including the Prime Minister. They were encouraged that if they see fit to invest in PNG, it was okay so long as they complied with the laws of the land. "NICTA Board at its discretion issued the licenses after vigorous checks to Awal and its operations and other subsidiaries around the world. They are not just in Dubai but worldwide."

Mr Miringtoro also said that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and the Government was advised about the whole project and those authorities have also been made aware that it is not easy to set up a business, especially in PNG where geography is an issue and other vast matters need to be taken into account.

He also said that he was sympathetic with the people of PNG who have had high hopes of seeing Awal come set up last month so that price of communication can also be decreased and competition to be allowed.

When the Government came out with a policy, one of the main agenda was to roll out communication in the country and this was communicated to Awal. As long as it allowed competition ... they should and would take part in the development of ICT in PNG," he said.

PNG Today / Post Courier