[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” equal_height=”yes” cspt-responsive-css=”13014940|colbreak_no|||||||||colbreak_yes|||||||||colbreak_no||||||||||colbreak_no|||||||||” el_class=”header-title” css=”.vc_custom_1615584142705{margin-bottom: 40px !important;}”][vc_column cspt-extended-column=”left” width=”1\/2″ cspt-responsive-css=”69549645|colbreak_no|||||||||colbreak_no|||||150||150||colbreak_no||||||||||colbreak_no|||||||||” css=”.vc_custom_1615583979260{padding-top: 300px !important;padding-right: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #5c86c0 !important;}”][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_single_image image=”11404″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1618859547127{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3\/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”Kumul Submarine Cable Network Project (KSCNP)” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:40px|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:45px” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1618858912202{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column cspt-bg-image-color-order=”image-over-color” cspt-extended-column=”right” width=”1\/2″ cspt-responsive-css=”91835201|colbreak_no|||||||||colbreak_no||||||||15|colbreak_no||||||||||colbreak_no|||||||||” css=”.vc_custom_1615583501511{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 40px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 40px !important;padding-left: 30px !important;background-image: url(http:\/\/103.18.247.248\/~sample\/bri_monitor\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/East-Coast-Railway-Link-Case-Study-image.jpg?id=11380) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_tabs spacing=”20″ active_section=”1″ el_class=”bri-tabbing”][vc_tta_section title=”I. Project Summary” tab_id=”1614655868545-c561da9a-c081″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
The Kumul Submarine Cable Network Project (KSCNP)<\/strong> is a project to establish submarine optic cable of 5,475 kilometres linking fifteen (15) coastal provinces within Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is the second component of the bigger Coral Sea Cable Project which aimed at increasing information sharing and strengthening existing bilateral relations between Australia and PNG. The KSCNP is implemented by PNG DataCo Ltd<\/strong>, a subsidiary of Kumul Telikom Holdings and a State-Owned commercial entity with concessional loan financing from China through the EXIM Bank, totalling an estimated amount of US$270 million (K879 million)<\/strong>. The completion of the laying of the 5,457 kilometres of domestic cable was completed on 02 June 2020<\/strong>, the project has then moved into system integration, testing and commissioning.<\/p>\n At present, intranet remains relatively expensive and used only by about 11 per cent<\/strong> of the population in PNG. The KSCNP is designed and implemented towards achieving the medium-term development objective towards improving telecommunication services in the country that was operating from a poor infrastructure provided by a combination of fixed lines, mobile wireless, satellite visat system and microwave band services. PNG government\u2019s ownership of the cable will enable it to regulate the ICT sector and bringing the telecommunication costs down.<\/p>\n The PNG DataCo Ltd<\/strong> has been implementing a major project in the country that aims at improving and expanding high-speed internet services for fifteen (15) coastal provinces linking PPC1 international cable Guam Sydney, Australia and Jayapura, Indonesia. There are two components of the project<\/strong> that are implemented concurrently with different financing and implementation arrangements: one supported by the Australian Government and the other supported by China which later became the KSCNP. The successful completion of both the KSCNP and the Coral Sea Cable project will enable effective international submarine cable connectivity through Sydney, Australia and Jayapura, Indonesia delivering a minimum of 20 terabytes of data per second.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”II. Project Structure” tab_id=”1614655868558-673461d2-624a”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n The KSCNP was one of the high priority projects included in the Framework Agreement on Development Cooperation Agreement signed between the Peoples\u2019 Republic of China and the Government of PNG dated 8 July 2016<\/strong> when former Prime Minister Peter O\u2019Neill visited China from 5-10 July 2016. This led to subsequent development and execution of project financing agreement between PNG and EXIM Bank with actual project implementation starting in November 2018 with a 3-phase approach. The KSMCP was implemented over a 17 month period starting 17 November 2018 and came to a conclusion on its third and final phase of the implementation on 02 June 2020. The KSCNP is currently in its system integration, testing and commissioning stage.<\/p>\n PNG secured a loan from China\u2019s EXIM Bank for an estimated US$270 million (K879 million)<\/strong> for the KSCNP of which China\u2019s loan accounts for 85 per cent whilst the remaining balance of 15 per cent to be meet by PNG. At the Provincial level, an additional K200, 000 has been contributed by the West New Britain Provincial Government towards meeting cable network establishment associated costs in its own Province.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”III. Issues” tab_id=”1618452537450-6e206883-c36f”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n There is a clear lack of transparency and accountability issues<\/strong> associated with this project in terms of documentation in relation to planning, budgeting, expenditure and reporting. The senior officers of key government agencies directly responsible for planning, supervision and management of the project, especially, Departments of Treasury, National Planning and Implementation, and PNG DataCo have refused to either meet with or provide<\/strong> the researchers with vital information on the project, making it difficult to assess if the country\u2019s procurement policies and guidelines are being complied with in the procurement of goods and services for the project.<\/p>\n Without the actual project loan Agreement<\/strong>, it is not clear as to how much loan was obtained for the KSCN project as there are three (3) different loan figures being quoted in the social and printed media; firstly, US$270 (K879 million) referred to earlier based on KCH official website, secondly, US$200 (K661 million) officially announced by Hon. William Duma, State Enterprises and Investment Minister in August 2018 and thirdly, an amount of US$388 (K1 billion) reported by an independent researcher. Without vital project-related information, it is also difficult to ascertain if the project was successfully completed as planned and within the loan funded budget ceiling.<\/p>\n The information provided by the Treasury Department on the annual budget estimate only presented mere information on annual actual allocation of funds and projected budget allocations for the immediate future with a brief background on the projects<\/strong> lacking quality information on the status of project implementation including loan drawdowns and their financing terms, other stakeholders that are involved in project implementation and change of scope if any.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”IV. Transparency Assessment” tab_id=”1614655896696-2d7fad11-0659″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\nProject Background<\/h4>\n
Project Structure<\/h4>\n
Issues<\/h4>\n
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