Minimum wage review hits Milne Bay Province

The nationwide review into Papua New Guinea’s minimum wage has reached Alotau this week, the Board ready to hear more views from both employers and their employees via submissions.

Chairperson Beverley Doiwa when opening proceedings on Monday morning, encouraged that they would like to hear from a wide spectrum of areas to determine what Milne Bay’s stance is.

It’s been 10 years since the last review in 2014, and while it is still early days, evident patterns are already emerging that highlight the need to increase the current minimum wage rate of K3.50 per hour, due to rising inflation and the high cost of goods and services.

In Alotau, with hearings underway, a good number of private companies are in attendance, including Milne Bay Estates, a subsidiary of the New Britain Palm Oil Ltd, and Milne Bay’s biggest employer.

They’re already tossing up numbers through suggestions as to how much of an increase for minimum wages this time.

The hearing in Alotau continues through to Wednesday and will include site visits to various companies like Milne Bay Estates, and next week, they will be in Daru and Kiunga to complete the southern region then onto the Niugini Islands Region provinces.