BY MATTHEW VARI

Up to 1.5 million litres of clean water will be pumped every day to and from three cruise ships during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Leaders’ Summit in Port Moresby.
Eda Ranu managing director Mr Henry Mokono outlined the mammoth operation set for the city’s water service provider, saying it would be a first in such magnitude for the company.
“Some of the most powerful men and women in this world will be converging in Port Moresby and will be residing and staying with us for nearly two weeks or more. Some of them will be in the floating hotels cruise liners.
“There will be three cruise liners that will be berthing, two of them at the Fairfax Harbour main wharf and one at Motukea. I further confirm that we are fully aware of those facilities because we will be responsible for supplying these cruise liners.
“The figures I have includes supplying each of the cruise liners about 500,000 litres of water per day, that makes about 1.5 million litres every day into these cruise liners and will discharge around the same amount of waste water,” Mr Mokono said.
He said Eda Ranu is a state-owned entity therefore would not charge fees however, it had submitted a budget plan to cover the operational requirements.
“The budget that we have actually put up to the APEC Authority in terms of upgrading our systems and supply and the quality of water and all this is estimated at around K8.5 million.
“It is not money that we will make but the cost to upgrade the facilities and run the operation,” he said.
Mr Mokono said that in addition the task would help upskill staff because the company’s APEC team had enlisted the help of experienced consultants for the operation.
Apart from the cruise ships, Mr Mokono said there was a possibility that the utility company would supply two naval warships expected to moor in the harbour.
The three cruise ships Pacific Explorer, Pacific Dawn, and Sea Princes are all operated by P&O Cruises Australia and will provide 4000 additional rooms for delegates and visitors attending the meet in November.