Pineapple House reopens

Sir Manasupe Zurenuoc and Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marae House or famously known as Pineapple Building was renamed to Sir Manasupe house by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill last week Wednesday.

The building which had undergone a face lift after years of neglect was handed over to the Prime Minister.

O’Neill said it is suitable to name the house after people who had given meritorious service to the nation for many years.

“I see this time is fitting to rename this building to those who have provided distinguished service to this country. It is with great honour today that I rename this house to Sir Manasupe House,” He said.

Sir Manasupe Zurenauc who had just resigned as Chief Secretary due to health reasons was recognised for 30 years of service to the country.

Sir Manasupe was ushered to the opening of the newlook building on a wheelchair.

O’Neill expressed his gratitude to Oil Search and everyone who had contributed in the construction of the building.

 

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill receives the key to Sir Manasupe house from Oil Search Executive General Manager Gerea Aopi.

 

 

Prime Minister flanked by his state Ministers at the opening of Sir Manasupe House

 

“I’d like to thank Oil Search for improving this iconic building for our nation. Although the first 20 years of our country had been managed out of this building and had been run down for many.  years. We had allowed this building to deteriorate into a stage where it was physically embarrassing.

“I want to thank all the people who were involved in the refurbishment of the building, each and every effort that was put into this building.”

Marea House which was built around the 1980s had housed some National Departments until the building was condemned because its sprinkler system was faulty.

The empty house was secured as a “Restricted Area” where whoever enters a gate or jump through the fence would be fined K1000.

It had been left to deteriorate for more than 20 years until mid-2013 when the O’Neill government proceeded to renovate it through the National Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme to be managed by Oil Search.

The Prime Minister’s Department will move into occupy the house while the Moraota House undergoes refurbishment as well.

The Prime Minister said moving into this building will save the country a lot of money which has been spent on rentals.

“Every year the rental of the government increases. For this year alone, the rental for Port Moresby alone is K250 million a year for last year and this year. We want to reduce this bill and save some money to deliver other goods and services. If my calculations are correct, we will be saving K50 Million a year when we move in here,” He said.

Executive General Manager of Oil Search Limited Gerea Aopi said the completion of the project signifies the work of public private partnership at work.

Aopi said Oil search is very proud that it had not only managed to deliver the House to expectations but also the formerly known Lloyd Robson Oval which they had managed under the same scheme early this month.

The Sir Manasupe House was renovated by L&A Group of companies which comprises of 12 levels, on-site parking for more than 200 vehicles, back up water and power systems and many others.

The integrated building system was designed by Kramer Ausenco with Pacific Architects as the designer.