The West New Britain Provincial Government (WNBPG) has renewed its PMV Subsidy Program Agreement with the Motor Vehicles Insurance Limited (MVIL) to subsidize the cost of registration and Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance for PMV operators in the province.

West New Britain Governor Hon. Sasindran Muthuvel presented a cheque of K200,000 for the subsidy payment to MVIL on 20 November 2023 in the presence of MVIL’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Michael Makap, Chief Operating Officer Mr Bafino Koi and MVIL’s senior management. 

West New Britain was the first province to partner with MVIL in the PMV subsidy arrangement in July 2021, giving K200,000 to MVIL to subsidize registration and CTP insurance for PMV operators, and replenished with the same amount in April of 2022 when the first trench was depleted. This is the third installment of the subsidy payment. 

Mr Makap said the presentation was based on a memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the two parties.

“The goal is to engage with provincial government to ensure there is continuity of public service in the province because the assistance given takes a huge burden off the PMV owners’ shoulders and benefits rural communities who rely on public transport to access critical services, largely situated in town areas,” Mr Makap said.

Under the renewed agreement, MVIL will retain management of the CTP insurance while the WNBPG will manage vehicle registration at the provincial level.

Mr Muthuvel said the aim of the funding is to assist improve income generating activities and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the province.

He further added that PMV operators were incurring extra costs in fixing their vehicles due to the bad road condition of the Kimbe National Highway.

“We agreed to fund the subsidy program under the Provincial Services Improvement Programme (PSIP) with the aim of putting money back in people’s pockets,” Mr Muthuvel said.