PNG Power Limited (PPL) has confirmed that a contractor had died on Thursday January 25th at the Sirinumu Dam in the mountains of Sogeri in Central province, whilst carrying out a scheduled maintenance work on the hydro dam.
Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for PNG Power Limited, Mr. Nehemaiah Naris in a statement explained that a licensed diver was engaged to carry out the maintenance work inside the dam, but was trapped 20 metres under water and unfortunately died at 9:30pm on Thursday night.
PPL has conveyed its deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased and his work colleagues for this tragic loss and is committed to work closely with its contractor DEC and provide further support where required.
“We would like to thank St. John Ambulance service, the police, the fire service, Pacific Towing service, a specialist medical doctor and our local community around Sirinumu for assisting our PPL team to conduct the rescue mission.”
He stated that sadly, there was not much the rescue teams could do as they lost the diver due to unforeseen circumstances beyond their control.
He said PNG Power Limited take health and safety as number one priority for all its employees and stakeholders, but this incident was just unfortunate.
Nevertheless, the Acting CEO stated that this accident will not affect power supply to all PPL customers in Port Moresby city and the Central province.