Water PNG
Water PNG, previously known as PNG Waterboard, was established under the National Water Supply and Sewerage Act of 1986 and commenced operation on January 1, 1987.
Portfolio
Water PNG was recently corporatized on the 30th of March 2017. It is wholly owned by the Government through KCH as the trustee shareholder.
Water PNG’s core business is the coordination, planning, design, construction, management of and charging for water supply and sewerage services throughout Papua New Guinea (with the exception of water supply and sewerage services for the Port Moresby area). Water PNG is a monopoly water utility in those centers hence is subject to price control by the ICCC under the Price Regulations Act.
Water PNG owns and operates twenty-two (22) water supply systems throughout PNG including the city of Lae, thirteen (13) other provincial towns and 8 district towns. Water PNG aims to achieve 100% coverage of provincial towns and 85% of all district towns by 2050 progressing to the ultimate achievement of the PNG Vision 2050. Water PNG aims to expand water supply and sanitation services to 2 additional provincial towns and 16 district towns in PNG in the short to medium term.
The Government through the WASH policy 2015-2030 is in the process of merging Water PNG and Eda Ranu into one entity serving all centers in the country aimed to consolidate resources, provide affordable water and sewerages services to the people, and at the same time provide a reasonable return on investment.
Eda Ranu
NCD Water & Sewerage Pty Ltd, trading as Eda Ranu, formally took control of the supply of water and sewerage services in Port Moresby from the National Capital District Commission (NCD) on 1st November 1996.
Leading up to 1996, the network of water and sewerage services were stretched beyond limits. Many areas were experiencing days without these much needed services and water carts were a common sight.
The last major upgrade to the water and sewerage network was carried out by the Australian Department of Housing and Construction between 1971 and 1973. The approximate population served then was 150,000.
By 1993 the population had since doubled. In the same year the government commissioned Japanese International Cooperate Agency (JICA) to undertake the study and present their recommendation to the government.
The study concluded that water supply and sewerage services networks were outdated, undersized for the present demand and would require a major capital works programme to meet the city’s requirements. JICA also recommended that a separate entity solely dedicated to managing the water and sewerage services in NCD be established.
On JICA’s recommendation, the Government established Eda Ranu and the National Capital District Water and Sewerage Act 1996. The Act governs the operations of Eda Ranu.
Eda Ranu is the local Motu language for “Our Water”.
