At about the same time as CRCEG announced its intention to build the Noble Center – as it has done in other developing countries – it was undertaking the very expensive re-development of the port of Lae, PNGs largest port.
This project was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with the agreement of the PNG Government.
To its credit, the ADB ordered an "independent" report into the work undertaken by China Railway. The comprehensive report declared the project a "failure" on a number of grounds, almost all related to the performance of the contractor.
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But that is where the "credit" ends! I have seen no evidence the ADB has done anything to stop, or seriously review, its use of China contractors on the vast majority of the projects it funds in Papua New Guinea.
The argument that the tenders are now issued by the PNG Government through the National Procurement Commission is frankly weak and unbecoming of the ADB. It is providing the funding (concessional loans etc) so it ought to be insisting on both transparency and diversity in contracts for works it funds.
A normal lender would not advance money without seeing evidence from a quantity surveyor, as well as an architect, that stages had been completed successfully, but this necessary due dilligene appears to be completely absent in the process here.
The Australian Government is a senior member of the ADB, with a permanent representative at ADB headquarters in Manila. It is frankly equally weak that Australia seems to have done three-fifths of not much when it comes to giving Papua New Guinean, and Australian, contractors a fair and reasonable share of ADB contracts in Papua New Guinea.
So Ports PNG, given the Lae Port experience, is right to be very wary of what might happen with regard to the defective Noble Center.
I really urge the board and management of Ports PNG to not just stand firm, but to insist on all the recommendations of the independent experts being fully carried out by CRCEG.
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There is welcome evidence the PNG Government will support it. But there is equally not the slightest doubt the management of CRCEG and the PRC Embassy in Port Moresby will push back and use its considerable influence within the PNG Government, and bureaucracy to do so.
To quote a former US President, "Australia does not have a dog in this fight". There are no Australian funds involved. But if the building is ever occupied it is inevitable that Australian citizens, and businesses, will work in it.
All Australia needs do is to urge the PNG Government, and safety regulators, to insist on all the safety and related recommendations being fully implemented. We might also offer to provide the technical expertise of fire services and engineering firms to help do so.
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