Photo credit: Outgoing Vice-President of TotalEnergies EP Asia-Pacific, Mr Javier Rielo Senior (centre) being farewelled by Petroleum Minister Hon. Kerenga Kua and PM Marape
The Marape government is pushing for Papua New Guinean school graduates to be recruited and educated as construction welders and tradespeople.
Hon. Prime Minister David Cameron Instead of introducing thousands of immigrants to do tasks that locals can accomplish, James Marape believes this should be done.
He alluded to the PNG LNG Project's building a decade ago, when the nation was overrun with thousands of foreign workers due to a lack of skilled staff.
“My government has K10 million set aside to train school leavers for jobs in the Papua LNG construction and later for P’ngyang LNG,” he said.
Mr Rielo was bid farewell by PM Marape, who welcomed Mr Julien Pouget as his replacement.
“It was a pleasure working with Mr Rielo and progressing the Papua LNG Project, ” he said.
“Since 2019, we have developed a strong rapport with TotalEnergies under Mr Rielo’s leadership and guidance. ”.
Mr Rielo's comments that the Papua LNG Project was on track, with Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) in 2022 and Final Investment Decision (FID) in late 2023, were warmly received by PM Marape.
“The Government, on behalf of all stakeholders, will support developers to achieve key project milestones,” he said.
Mr. Rielo visited Port Moresby to say his goodbyes to the PNG government and key stakeholders.
Reference: PM James Marape News Page (12 January 2022). “Marape Government pushes for technical training for school leavers”.
