Peter Aitsi has resigned from his post as director and chairman of Kumul Consolidated Holdings Limited (KCHL).
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister James Marape, he said his resignation came after recent “changes to ministerial portfolios”, expressing his gratitude to the government for this privilege “to be chair of this prestigious and important organisation”.
“In recognition of the changes to ministerial portfolios, I have reviewed my own position (and) decided to resign from my position as a director and subsequently from my role as chair,” Aitsi said.
In his resignation letter, he remarked that the KCHL board “over the past 18 months had made significant headway in achieving your government’s State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) reform agenda”. He also recognized the appointment of KCHL managing director Isikeli Taureka as “an important step in bringing, experienced and capable Papua New Guinean leadership to the reforms and clearly, this has been evident in the achievements to date”.
He added that the accomplishments of KCHL are as follows:
The passing of the amendments of the KCHL Act, making sure that the funds from the Asian Development Bank are released early
The appointment of key chief executive officers
Start of the restructuring of the debt which had damaged the SOEs.
“The progress is encouraging but there is still a long way to go,” Aitsi said, adding that with his achievements, he remained “very committed to contributing where I can to the positive advancement of PNG and importantly to securing outcomes that protect the well-being of our people.
“I extend my sincerest thanks for the opportunity to serve our nation and I remain open to assisting your government wherever I can make a meaningful contribution,” he said.
Aitsi said that there was a decision to replace him but the Cabinet hasn’t released any official letter yet.
For his part, James Marape said that from his understanding, Aitsi no longer held that role after Professor David Kavanamur replaced him, when Muthuvel was minister.
