Hand over facilities, academy ordered

THE National Court has ordered the Kumul Petroleum Academy (KPA) to hand over all the facilities it is occupying at the Port Moresby Technical College’s (PomTech) Idubada campus by December 19.
Certain properties not in use are to be handed over by July 19.
Judge Derek Wood ordered that the Orion Enga Children’s Fund Joint Venture (JV) Limited operating as KPA must vacate the K62 million Port Moresby Construction Training Facility (CTF), built by oil giant ExxonMobil.
Judge Wood ordered that:

• WITHIN 30 days (deadline July 19, 2024 at 8am) all facilities that are unused by KPA would be handed over to PomTech;
• WITHIN six months (June 19 to Dec 19 2024 at 8am) all facilities being used by KPA to be handed over to PomTech and an exit plan put in place. PomTech will place a team within the CTF as part of this exercise;
• THE six-month use plus any extension of the use of CTF will come under a management agreement with PomTech where the facility will be rented to KPA for use by PomTech.

The court was informed on Friday that PomTech had called a meeting attended by KPA officials and officials from the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology to discuss an exit plan.
The KPA lawyer argued that the contract between the State and JV expires on Nov 28, 2024.
He also stated that KPA is a party to the JV and an exit plan was never drawn.
PomTech lawyer Emmanuel Kasi said the NEC decision had been supressed by the legislation and no longer in effect as it expired on June 12, 2024.
ExxonMobil and PomTech had an agreement that the latter would take over the property after ExxonMobil had completed its training.
But a Cabinet decision No. 185 of 2014 was made to hand over the facility to Orion Enga Children’s Fund Joint Venture (JV) Limited for 10 years, which lapsed on June 12, 2024.