PNG Police Probe Four Christmas Deaths in NCD and Central

Water supply to most parts of Port Moresby was gradually restored early today after Water PNG completed repair and restoration works at the Rouna power and water system, following a planned outage that extended into the early hours of the morning.

The state-owned utility confirmed that Rouna 1 and Rouna 3 were fully brought back online at about 2.15am, with Rouna 4 restored shortly after, allowing water production to resume and pressure to slowly return across the city.

 PNG Water  restores supply to Port Moresby After Rouna Plant Works

Water PNG chief executive officer James Young said reservoir storage had been used around midnight to provide temporary relief to customers while plant inflows were being re-established. He said the system now needs time to stabilise as inflows continue to increase.

Mr Young said crews worked through the night flushing trunk mains and rebalancing reservoirs and District Metered Areas to ensure water could reach most affected suburbs. He said supply had been restored to many areas, although some locations were still stabilising.

He said the situation again exposed the limitations of Port Moresby’s ageing and undersized water network, which struggles to meet demand for a rapidly growing city. While the outage was planned, he warned that future shutdowns could be more complex and may take longer to resolve due to the condition of the system.

Mr Young also raised concern over incidents where Water PNG workers were threatened and prevented from carrying out repairs in some locations, including Hanuabada, where a landslip damaged a major main supplying the area. He said staff would return to the site with police support to complete the work.

Maintenance activities have also been ongoing at Mount Eriama, with some parts of the city experiencing water outages since 11pm on Saturday, December 27, 2025.

“The HB main has a major impact on overall supply, so we are asking the public to support our teams so they can carry out their work safely and restore services as quickly as possible,” Mr Young said.

 

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PNG Police Probe Four Christmas Deaths in NCD and Central