By DALCY LULUA
PRIME Minister James Marape has appointed Minister Maru to take charge of PNG Power, saying the move is part of a major restructuring aimed at improving the performance of the country’s electricity utility and streamlining the management of state-owned enterprises.
The announcement was made during a ministerial portfolio reshuffle at Government House today, where Marape said the Government’s review of Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH) found its governance structure to be overly bureaucratic and in need of reform.
Marape said PNG Power would remain under the ownership of KCH, but its operational management would be overseen through its own board under the direct responsibility of Minister Maru to improve efficiency and accountability.
“We’ve done diagnostics into the entire KCH structure. We feel that the KCH structure is convoluted with a heavy bureaucratic layer,” Marape said.
He said the current reporting structure requires state-owned enterprises to report through several layers, including company boards, KCH management, the KCH board, the responsible minister and Cabinet, creating unnecessary delays in decision-making.
The Prime Minister said the Government decided to separate PNG Power from the wider state enterprise portfolio because of the utility’s ongoing operational challenges and its impact on the national economy.
“PNG Power has been quite a huge problem in our country lately,” he said. “There are enough studies on PNG Power available. What we need now is action.”
Marape said the decision was not a reflection on the performance of the outgoing minister responsible for PNG Power, Thomas Opa Lua, who also oversees more than 15 state-owned enterprises.
“Nothing against Minister Lua; he’s done his absolute best. There’s a lot of overload on his shoulders,” Marape said.
He said Minister Maru was selected because he has the determination and independence to address the utility’s longstanding problems.
“We felt Minister Maru has the raw aggression and the independence to get in there with no fear or favour, looking at what has happened in PNG Power,” he said.
Marape said the new arrangement would be closely monitored as part of the Government’s broader reforms of state-owned enterprises, with the aim of improving service delivery and accelerating the implementation of government decisions.
Minister Duma will retain responsibility for the State Enterprises portfolio and continue overseeing Kumul Consolidated Holdings as the holding company for the country’s state-owned enterprises.