Manus to become major fisheries centre: Maru

There is much potential for Manus to become a major fisheries centre and in turn generate substantial revenue and jobs for the island province and the country.
A delegation, led by the Minister for National Planning and Monitoring Richard Maru, visited the proposed industrial site N’Drahukei on the West Coast of Manus island to learn more about its prospects.
N’Drahukei consists of 260 hectares of unused State land.
The delegation also included the European Union (EU) Ambassador Ioannis Giogkarakis-Argyropoulos, National Fisheries Authority managing director John Kasu, Manus MP Job Pomat, Manus Governor Charlie Benjamin and officers from PNG Power, Water PNG and Telikom PNG.
Maru said Manus would soon see a decrease in the K25 million revenue it had been enjoying because of the closure of the regional processing centre next Tuesday.
“This means that jobs will be lost and small businesses will make losses,” he said.
“Therefore, the Government is keen to ensure that the people of Manus are supported through sustainable projects like a fisheries and cannery project. Your greatest asset is the sea.”
Maru said the EU had a population of about 500 million.
“They are the richest region in the world and they provide a massive market for our fisheries products,” he said.
Giogkarakis-Argyropoulos said his visit was to learn as much as he could about Manus.
“PNG has potential in fisheries. There is a need and there is potential to bring investors, also because Europe brings standards,” he said.
“It is true that Europe is a big market for fish and tuna in particular of PNG.”