Elias Nanau



 
Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby is undergoing a building and construction boom despite the global economic downturn experienced last year.
  Once these buildings are completed, the city’s skyline and image is expected to be radically changed, making it a modern economic hub of the Pacific.
  The popular 14-storey Deloitte Tower at Musgrave Street, in Port Moresby’s central business district, may not be the only icon of the city in future.
  Residents and visitors are marvelling at new building constructions in downtown Port Moresby and other commercial and residential areas.
  Among developments is a one billion-dollar kina shopping mall at the Waigani suburb, to be called Waigani Vision City.
  This ambitious development by logging giant Rimbunan Hijau (PNG) Group will provide residents and visitors with an additional location for shopping and doing business, apart from Boroko, Gordons and Harbour City, which are also developing at a fast pace.
  The Waigani Vision City is expected to be opened this year with various amenities incorporated in it,. This will include a three-storey mall, a 12-storey hotel with more than 290 rooms, office blocks, a convention centre and apartments.
  As far as employment is concerned, at least 5,000 people can find job there, and 250 business entities can operate in the Waigani Vision City, altogether with an estimated turnover of K250 million per annum.
  LNG project catalyst
  Port Moresby’s other developments include a high-rise hotel and residential apartments at Douglas Street, adjacent to the Crown Plaza Hotel, and owned by the Kumul Hotels Group; a building on the corner of Hunter and Douglas Streets; and the Touaguba Hill which overlooks the recreational Ela Beach is also going through a massive building development.
  The popular Ela Beach Hotel is also undergoing expansion with the construction of an extra 42 premier suites, while the hill that overlooks the beach is being excavated for buildings to be erected.
  The Boroko commercial center and Waigani are also undergoing building developments.
  Residential town houses are also being developed at 8 and 9 mile. Many Papua New Guineans are now relocating to these areas to live, leaving prime areas like downtown or Boroko.
  These are just some of the building developments, apart from other minor developments in suburban Port Moresby.
  Building experts say the recent signing of the US$15 billion PNG LNG project at the end of last year is being viewed as the catalyst for a massive building and construction boom never seen before in the country.
  It is being predicted that the current boom will continue at a high level of activity, particularly for large projects.
  However, experts cannot give a definite answer yet about how long the building boom will last, only offering a suggestion that the boom will last for three to four years before it slows down to a more manageable level.
  They say the boom can then change to a much larger building and property boom when the LNG project comes on stream, making the current boom smaller in comparison.
  Despite the building and construction boom, the Central Bank’s (Bank of Papua New Guinea) quarterly economic bulletin released last month stated that employment in the formal private sector increased by only 0.6 percent in the final September quarter of last year, compared to the third quarter of 1.1 percent, a decrease of 0.5 percent. And the building and construction industry had a decline in employment in the final quarter, including agriculture, forestry, fisheries, transportation, financial businesses and other service sectors.