The CPL board has come out to express its concern regarding the civil unrest and its effects on CPL, with Mr Stan Joyce Board Chairman of CPL Group highlighting that the seriousness of the current situation in PNG and the gravity of its impact. Mr Joyce stated that he is lost for words to describe the senseless criminal acts which have resulted in the destruction of 3 of their shops and the theft of merchandise on a scale never seen before in Papua New Guinea. He added that the rule of law is a prerequisite for operating a business in any economy and what everyone has observed currently is the rule of law being tested to a breaking point. “I am not going to comment on this issue any further at this stage other than to appeal to the majority of peace loving and law-abiding citizens of this God-Fearing Nation to stand up to the perpetrators of this lawless activity and say enough is enough”. “I have lived in Papua New Guinea for over 40 years and continue to believe most people are law abiding citizens.” He further added that CPL has been through more than its fair share of challenges over many years, from riots and fires, they have always prevailed, and they will do so again because we are resilient and determined to remain a proud PNG company. “One of the main reasons for our resilience is our staff who remained loyal and believe in the company.” “This was again evident in the way staff acted quickly to assist Management with protecting assets and taking care of each other,” he highlighted. “The Directors thank our staff from the bottom of our hearts; we know that without you we would be in a much worse situation.” Mr Joyce stated also that right now it is too early to tell how CPL will recover from this latest test to their viability and that there are many external factors out of their control. “But we have every intention of coming back bigger and better, so, at this stage, I would humbly ask you to remain confident in the future of our company”. Despite what had happened he added that people will still need to buy food, cloth themselves and obtain hardware, and that the Pharmacy will still be required to enable people to live better and healthier lives. He expressed gratitude towards the CPL Customers for the many well wishes that come into the stores and appreciates the way CPL do business and that boosted CPL’s confidence in the future. “We are proud to be a PNG company, we will continue to support our SME’s and local business and the broader PNG community including through our Foundation.” “We are all in this together and together we will prevail.” Mr Joyce elaborated more that right now the safety of all the people remains their number one priority and that CPL Board has zero tolerance for any activity that puts the safety of their staff at risk. “On behalf of CPL Board, I ask everyone at this time to take particular care in day-to-day movements as we keenly await a return to normalcy, God Bless PNG”.