MINISTER TSIAMALILI SAYS LOCAL CONTRACTORS NEED MORE CAPACITY SUPPORT

CAPTION: Participants of the Inaugural Construction & Contractors Conference at APEC House.

BY LETHISA KOLOKOL

THE Minister for Works and Highways, Peter Tsiamalili Jnr has boldly stated that the government is not doing enough to help the local contractors get up to the same level as multinational contractors in the country.

Minister Tsiamalili made these remarks at the opening of the first ever conference for construction and contractors in PNG.

“Once the government provides a better environment for you, you prosper, we prosper, ultimately our people in the rural communities proper as well” the minster made this remark to the contractors on day 1 of the conference yesterday at the Apec Haus.

He said one of the fundamental challenges is limited capacity of domestic contractors to participate in the medium and large-scale infrastructure projects.

“One of the big differences between local contractors and multinational contractors is the bank statements, which highlights a significance capacity difference between local and multinational contractors” Minster Tsiamalili said.

Using the NRL Sporting code, the minister said local contractors are like Grade B clubs are eligible if spaces are available while multinational is like Grade A clubs are guaranteed top-tier status, there has to be an Equal playing ground.

However, he admitted that the government is not doing enough to help the local contractors get up to the same level as multinationals.

“This is why this conference is important, truth must be told, we cannot expect local contractors to get up where the multinationals are if we are not backing them.
The 2-day conference is the first step to dissecting the challenges faced by local contractors and to come up with practical solutions to upgrade their level of skills and expertise and outcome expectations.