According to PNG Manufacturers Council chief executive officer Chey Scovell, businesses support the urgent need to stop the current spread of the Covid-19 but agree that a full-scale, literal lockdown isn't feasible in Papua New Guinea.
When asked whether companies were preparing for a lockdown due to the increase in Covid-19 incidents, Scovell said yes.
“This depends on what you mean by ‘prepared’,” he said.“Can they physically stop operating and send all staff home, yes? However, manufacturers are not responsible for filling up warehouses (in stores), if we close manufacturers, shelves run empty. If we close shops, people can’t make any purchases.”
According to Scovell, PNG's capacity for home delivery services is inadequate, and most people lack the opportunity to stock up on supplies for two to four weeks.
He said that while manufacturers continued to provide healthy work environments for workers to protect against the Covid-19 and reduce the risk of infection, they were unable to implement all safety procedures and behaviours.
The reality is that we are now in stage three,” he said. “Movements should already be restricted, it’s simply not being enforced at all, in any way.”
For Scovell, restricting mobility was necessary but not always feasible because many facilities required staff to travel and people needed to move as well.
“We support the guidelines and the restrictions under each stage,” he said. “We would ask that rules be followed and enforced. Our manufacturers have put in place measures to comply with the rules. It’s outside the workplace that rules are not being followed.”
Only critical staff were required to attend work during stages three and four, according to Scovell, but this was not the case.
“In my membership, they are working in rotations, working from home, have made substantial changes to their work layouts to ensure distancing,” he said. “The Government lacks the capacity to effectively enforce the guidelines.”
He claimed that because the government lacked sufficient workers (police, health workers, teachers, etc.) for the country, expecting the police to effectively enforce the rules was impractical.
We each have to play our part,” he said. “Maybe a hotline for workers and customers to report non-compliance would assist, but even then it would still be a challenge for the government to visit and penalise those that aren’t complying.”
To manage the effect of the Covid-19 on businesses and people's lives, Scovell said constant knowledge, leadership from politicians and bureaucrats, and vigilance from the public were needed.
