Central City Project

The Central City Project at Bautama, a 30-minute drive from Port Moresby, headlines the list of risky State investment projects in the last decade.

The project was commissioned by the Central Provincial Government with the support of the National Government on October 9, 2007 (Government, 2007).

To date, in 2017, no identifiable infrastructure has been built at the site next to the Magi Highway except for three houses occupied by policemen and their families.

There is no paper-trail on the project and it is not known how much public funding was allocated – either by the Central Provincial Government or the National Government – to the project since its commissioning.

In March 2013 the business community in the National Capital District backed the development of the new township as the capital for Central Province, saying they were ready to give their support (Wapar, 2013).

However, successive governments have not published information showing details of firms that submitted bids, provided the description of the services provided, contract value and terms and conditions.