PNG workers miss out as work begins on Nadzab highway By Kevin ORegan, 27/09/2014, Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE LIKE most users of the stretch of road from Lae to Bulolo junction and on to Nadzab, I am delighted to see work finally commence on construction in the 6 Mile area. We have been reading about it for two years, saw the ground-breaking ceremony some months ago by Works Minister Francis Awesa and to see work actually commence is a relief to all users. But, alas, it looks like the local Papua New Guinean workers are to be spectators as graders, excavators, wheel loaders and even dump trucks have Chinese operators and drivers. Even the humble role of spotters for each machine is occupied by a person of Chinese origin. To be frank, this is crap. At the wind-down and finish of the liquefied natural gas project there were more than 1,000 Papua New Guinean operators and drivers without employment; people who were ranked as good as their counterparts anywhere in the world. They had been licensed, safety-trained and groomed into a cohesive production-orientated workforce. Are these skilled people meant to sit idly by and watch this happening in their own country? The Chinese are funding the project and they are the engineers of the project. That’s fine, let them do that and supervise the building of Yalu and other bridges. But there is no way they should be driving dump trucks and earth-moving machinery when there are hundreds of skilled local workers available. I would be interested to know if our traffic police have checked the validity of the Chinese operators’ Class 7 and Class 4 licenses. As a nation that has just celebrated 39 years of independence I expect better than this. It must be hoped that steps will be taken for the practice to cease immediately. At the very least, our local people should make a stand.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 04:07:47 +0000
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