The following article is intended to create awareness amongst the general public about the current Community Water Transport Project

The project is currently being implemented by the National Government through the Department of Transport as the Executing Agency. It also aims to create awareness about its aims and objectives, and about the scope of the project that is design to achieve better rural maritime transport service and therefore improving the livelihood of the people in the project affected areas.

As a background, the National Government borrowed SDR19.6 million (K78.40m) in 2004 from the Asian Development Bank and US$4.00 million (K11.24m) from Overseas Petroleum Countries for the Community Water Transport Project, and at the same time the National Government is obligated under the Loan Agreements to provide counterpart funding annually over the life of the project. The aim of the project is to alleviate poverty in terms of transport access to markets by rural maritime communities in the thirteen maritime provinces of PNG. The project is a of the national government’s maritime transport reform program which was preceded by the creation of the National Maritime Safety Authority, the Rehabilitation of the Maritime Navigational Aid Systems Project and the Recompilation of the Maritime Navigational Charts, all of which are components of the maritime transport reform program of the National Government.

The Community Water Transport Project has the objective of directly reducing poverty in marginalised and remote maritime and river based communities by financing a catalytic , temporary subsidy where cash income generated by rural maritime dwellers do not support regular and affordable transport services, and promotes effective sector governance through supporting the capitalisation of the National Maritime Safety Authority .

The project scope therefore includes establishing the Community Water Trust Fund to finance the required water transport subsidy, restoring water transport infrastructures such as small jetties, improving small craft safety, and promoting maritime rural development through shipping service awareness, training workshops and community profiling.