December 11, 2002 -A MASSIVE tuna-processing plant being fabricated in New Plymouth will greatly help Papua New Guinea's economy, says South Seas Tuna Corporation president Mike McCulley.
California-based Mr McCulley accompanied a 14-strong delegation from PNG which visited the premises of Robt Stone and Co Ltd yesterday to inspect its facilities.
Mr McCulley said that when completed, the plant -- with a capacity to process 200 tonnes of tuna a day -- would be a big project for PNG.
'We are very pleased with Robt Stone, and they have got a lot of experience in producing equipment for the tuna industry,' he added.
Another delegation member, East Sepik Province Governor Arthur Somare, said the plant would be one of the larger fish-processing tuna-loining mills in the country, if not the South Pacific.
It had the potential to provide 1250 jobs immediately inside the plant, and the opportunity to create an additional 2.7 outside jobs for each of the inside-plant positions.
The economic conditions in PNG had not been favourable over the last decade, said Mr Somare, and governments had not focused on issues that would improve the country's economy.
However, more recently a new government had taken a broad-focus on key areas aimed at improving both the economy and the standard of living. The tuna plant was one of the first projects under the new government that would kick off that new approach.
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Post Courier