PNG Opposition slams Micah's plans to sell PNG Power

Papua New Guinea Deputy Opposition Leader Sam Basil yesterday slammed Public Enterprise Minister Ben Micah’s plans to put up for sale 50 per cent of PNG Power Limited. And he has accused the Government of not having stringent plans to manage State assets, also blaming authority’s incompetency resulting in the sale of some of these important assets.

Basil, the newly appointed Pangu Pati Leader, called on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to sack Mr Micah and also called for the removal of PNG Trade Union Congress leader John Paska who he claimed was no longer vocal on national issues.

He said Mr Micah’s public announcement to sell half of PNG Power Ltd showed that the Government did not have a plan for State assets and was only running them down and now they wanted to sell off.

"I call on the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to sack or remove Ben Micah. At the moment I think the O’Neill Government do not have plans for these assets and strategies to fix them," Mr Basil said.

"I call on all the unionists to make sure that John Paska must be sacked or removed, or must voluntarily step down from his position because he is not doing the Union a good job," Mr Basil said.

"Look at what the Government is doing now, it’s slowly taking over State assets and selling it to wantoks and friends." "I’m asking all Papua New Guineans and trade unions, let us stand together and tell the O’Neill Government, do not sell State assets," he said.

But Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said that PNG Power will be reorganised to improve reliability and expand services to over five million people of PNG who still do not have electricity. Mr Micah told the Post-Courier that the decision to sell 50 per cent of PNG Power was Cabinet’s and not his. "It was a Cabinet decision, not a Micah decision," Mr Micah said.

NEC has reviewed reports of all of these state-owned assets, with IPBC and Treasury and our department they are working closely on the process and the actual structure of the sale will be announced once finalised," he said. PNG Power CEO John Tangit on the other hand said that PPL had not been sold as yet and said reports in the newspapers were misleading.

"Let it be made quite clear that none of PPL has been sold, let alone 50 per cent. While it is no secret that the Government is thinking of selling some of its equities in some State-owned enterprises, including PPL, no such actions have yet taken place," Mr Tangit said.

While the sale of Government shareholding in PPL was its prerogative, the process involved will require the participation of PPL board and management along with IPBC," he said.