Internaltional Project Management

Papua New Guinea

In 1999 Ian Ferguson was instrumental in securing orders for 19 kilometres in total of Palisade Security Fencing into PNG, whilst working as an employee for Gryffin Pty Ltd. Part of the then Ausaid CASP program, Ian procured in excess of 900 tonne of materials including 42 heavy duty vehicle entry gates and co-ordinated their shipment in to Port Moresby and Mt Hagen.

The purpose of the project was to bring both Airports up to International standards by providing a secure perimeter.

In 2000-2001 Ian was contracted by Gryffin as Project Manager for the installation following considerable and lengthy deliberation on the fence alignment. This was inhibited somewhat due to the different cultures in PNG, and in attempting to accommodate the demands of various Villages and Tribes.

Local company’s were subcontracted to complete the installation, under the watchful eye of 2 expatriate Site Foreman. The installation was carried out over an 8 month period which included the wet season months of December, January and February. The project was completed on time and better than budget. Gryffin, as the head contracting company, subsequently won an industry award for best International installation.

The project statistics are recorded for posterity on a Gryffin brochure ( Palisade - Jacksons Airport Installation) , but by far the biggest challenge wasn’t in the mountain of materials, more so the number of people employed on the project, conservatively estimated at 80. The most gratifying experience was by far the enjoyment in imparting a small level of skill in teaching the National labour force the art of Palisade fence construction. It remains the largest Palisade fencing project ever done in this part of the world, a statistic that the PNG Nationals are most proud.