THE recent hike in fuel prices may be double trouble for Lae businesses, given the ongoing power outages and the high dependency on generators.
Ian Chow, managing director of Lae Biscuit Company, said it had certainly caused uncertainty for businesses.
“We won’t know the costs to us until few weeks later when the increases show in our cost of manufacturing,” he said.
“I think all manufacturers are facing this problem, especially when we are burning so much diesel for our generators, and the
costs of shipping, trucks, transport.”
Chow said the businesses were carrying the burden of this increased cost.
“No one dares to raise prices when we know grassroots are suffering more,” he said.
“So many requests for help now from churches, settlements, staff etc.
“The only thing I can tell them is to go ask their MP to help.”
Meanwhile, power outages have continued to worsen in Lae over the last few months.
Lae was on blackout from Sunday until a partial restoration was done on the Ramu grid midday yesterday.
PNG Power Limited said that the system experienced a partial outage following the closure of Line L618 from Singsing Creek to Taraka, causing the frequency of the system to change a lot causing trips and breakdowns in the system.
Preliminary checks indicated a possible fault on both L609 (Singsing Creek-Erap) and the KEC 132kV line L618 as restoration efforts continued.
