Vanimo is not ready to be a Free Trade Zone, says the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru.
“Despite all the talk about Vanimo Free Trade Zone for the last twenty years, the fact is that the Provincial Government and the National Government has not prepared Vanimo to be a Free Trade Zone,” said Minister Maru.
“Vanimo does not have a cheap and reliable power, no water supply and sanitation system, and no international wharf. We are happy that the Vanimo airport had been refurbished with the extension of the runway and the new terminal building; it is ready for international flight. But apart from that, we have not met all other requirements,” he said.
Minister Maru said that the Wutung Border Post that was developed through a K90 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has had no power supply to date.
“All the machines, scanners and facilities that were paid for with an expensive loan from the ADB has never been used because there is no power there. All these expensive equipment is now gathering dust,” said Minister Maru.
“The Vanimo to Wutung powerline project which I released the full funding for in 2018 when I was the Minister for National Planning and Monitoring has not even been completed by PNG Power Limited. This is a very sad state of affairs,” he said.
Minister Maru said that for the Government to unleash the potential of Vanimo to be a Free Trade Zone, it must immediately fund the water supply and sanitation system, an international wharf, and powerlines to Wutung so very cheap power can be bought from Indonesia to supply the Vanimo grid. He said the onus was now on the West Sepik Government and the leaders of the province, and the National Government to work together to make it happen.
“We now have to work together. We need to find the money to build an international wharf, find a land for an industrial park next to the wharf, put a water supply and sanitation system, and to get powerlines to Wutung before we can talk about Vanimo becoming a Free Trade Zone. West Sepik Province must put together a team to work together with the National Government to achieve these things, otherwise, we are just going to talk for the next ten years,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru said the National Government must start by providing K40 million in the 2023 Development Budget to build a water supply system for Vanimo Town.
“ADB has completed the design for the Vanimo water supply system and the report has also been gathering dust for four years as no funds has been available for the new water supply to be built,” he said.
Vanimo is one of the only two provincial towns with no water supply system.
