Photo: Modular construction units have allowed Papua New Guinea's mining and petroleum companies to set up camp in remote areas across the country, and later repurpose or turn over these buildings to the locals of their project areas for the community's use. Even the Government has used these fabricated units that are quickly assembled to extend social services in resource areas where there used to be none.
Papua New Guinea's resource-rich areas are located at some of the most rugged, mountainous, and treacherous terrains, and the designing, building, and maintaining of project site facilities in these resource areas require constant upkeep.
The process of creating fabricated units that can be quickly assembled has shifted as developers become more innovative in building structures faster and getting better quality control while reducing waste and carbon footprint.
Since the inclusion and start of the PNG LNG project in 2012, a number of prefabricated and modular building providers have emerged, notably PNGCR (formerly known as RED SEA Housing Company), Ark Pacific, PNG Forest Products, and Oilmin Ltd.
These companies are pioneers in this industry and have been servicing the mining and oil & gas sector by providing infrastructure to campsites all over Papua New Guinea. Their core services are designing and building campsites in which all supplied modular buildings are installed locally.
According to PNGCR, the intensity and rate of modular building providers have provided logistics and operation to PNG's petroleum sector by adapting to their changing nature of activities day to day in most campsites, from managing routine maintenance projects to emergency situations.
Over the years, these pioneers’ achievements have seen them bring in more manufacturing on campsites while combining it to benefit the landowners of project-impacted areas as well.
Apart from servicing tier-one clients of the oil & gas sector, partnerships have seen the companies provide and supply infrastructure for law and order, health, and other public sectors on various refurbishment and building projects throughout the country alongside other government entities.
Transitioning and adapting have been a big part of modular building providers. During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, their flexibility to adapt their services saw most of these companies change their product lines to adapt to the business demand by moving their core services of supplying camps in the oil & gas sector to providing structures across different economic sectors.
PNGCR
For instance, PNGCR provided all the support and infrastructure to the Australian Government and St. Johns to send mobile and testing clinics throughout the country, especially to remote areas.
The company has a strong partnership with St. Johns as well, in which they provide medical services for landowners of resource areas that live close to project-impacted areas.
PNGCR's Managing Director, Mr. Allen Tyson, who has been in PNG most of his life, said projects must support local businesses and focus more on driving local and national content, because most local companies who have been here since the LNG project started have been investing in the community and are still in business after PNG LNG.
Most have been through the difficult period of Covid, and it would be disappointing if upcoming projects do not provide opportunities to such local companies, he added.
"It’s really going to come back to the project owners. There's a lot of really good companies here in PNG who are able to service these projects that have stuck it out through the good times and the bad and have done it tough through the Covid period, and it would be great for these companies to rebound for the benefit of Papua New Guineans," Mr. Tyson said.
“Most companies that come in for resource projects disappear when the projects are over, and this does not create long-term employment for Papua New Guineans," he added.
For the past 12 years, PNGCR transitioning from RED SEA has consistently employed between 250 and 300 people and has been one of the country's leaders in manufacturing and supplying modular buildings.
ARK PACIFIC
With LNG projects about to take off in 2023, Ark Pacific’s Flat Pack modular building range has become sought after by the oil & gas sector given the remoteness of project locations, some of which are only accessible by river.
Ark Pacific’s low freight footprint -- up to 75 percent less than other prefabricated alternatives – is a key factor in the popularity of its building systems.
Ark Pacific’s General Manager, Cassius Ruka, also a longtime resident of the country, in a commentary last year said: “Due to its simple flatpack design, this means that unskilled workers in remote footprint communities can be used to assemble Ark buildings, which is, of course, beneficial to these workers and their families, and therefore to resource clients wanting to achieve their local content objectives.”
This also meant that construction sites installing Ark buildings during the peak Covid-19 period were relatively unaffected by travel restrictions, as majority of staff are local and not FIFO (fly in fly out).
Modification and the repurposeability of buildings are highly valued features of Ark’s building systems. “Particularly significant when building in PNG,” says Ruka, “is the fact that our buildings can easily be reconfigured and relocated to benefit footprint communities as schools, clinics, or libraries once clients no longer require them.”
PNG FOREST PRODUCTS
PNG Forest Products, a major player in developing this sector since 1954, have also been a dominant force throughout the years in providing transportable units with simple solutions for mining, gas and petroleum camp relocation. Its innovative products and services include their modern Duplex with an ensuite. This product has been found to be reliable and comfortable by its clients.
Recently, K92 Mining Ltd., who have been acquiring the services of PNGFPs, pointed out the significance of its modular units and how it has helped them minimize costs, time management and construction difficulties in a mining camp.
K92 Mining's Project Maintenance Superintendent, Reis Colley, highlighted: "As operations at K92 mine grew different accommodation options were considered until PNGFP proposed their transportable 2-bedroom individual ensuite unit with a verandah. We agreed and initially purchased 18 of these units and installed this established infrastructure, which allowed us to minimize disruption to existing camp rooms."
"As the modular unit is built in PNGFP's factory offsite, once delivered it only had to be lifted onto the footings and connected to plumbing and electrical services," Colley explained.
OILMIN FIELD SERVICES
Oilmin's Construction Division are providers and distributors of the Ezy House Units, which are multi-functional modular building systems, manufactured to the highest international and applicable local standards. The Ezy House construction system uses prefabricated components to build camps and other structures.
The units are designed for a variety of applications, with the product found in various industries including government, construction, private and exploration sectors. Currently, their partnership with Ezy House is in line with their commitment to provide innovative and cost-effective building solutions for their clients.
Ezy House is a versatile solution for a wide range of scenarios. Some of the advantages of using Ezy House include faster construction time, affordability, assured highest quality, and increased flexibility. This means Ezy house components can be customized to meet specific requirements, and can be adapted to different building designs.
The Ezy House concept can be used in housing developments, remote locations, temporary structures, mining camps, and disaster relief. Oilmin’s partnership with Ezy House is a testament to their commitment in providing innovative and cost-effective solutions for their clients.
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What to expect
Consistent with their strategies, these companies’ next stage of growth will be targeted towards adapting to any unexpected changes and focusing on local and national content, while supporting infrastructure for new and upcoming resource projects in the country.
The resource sector in PNG has seen great change over the past year. The rise and establishment of new resource projects seem to be the biggest forecast for future projection.
While service providers for this important sector may not have a certain projection of what the future will look like, there’s no other industry that can adapt to these sudden changes better than the modular construction industry, as these companies have proven.
