Life in the PNG capital of Port Moresby just got more colourful following the installation of an extra press tower at the daily Post-Courier.
Installation by Adelaide-based National Printing Equipment of a third Tensor four-high tower in the Goss Community line increases all-colour capacity by 50 per cent to 24 pages of a 40-page tabloid product.
And while there are hopes of a fourth tower for five-day (Monday-Friday) daily, which is owned by News Corp Australia, production manager Mal Harvey says there’s a limit on potential upgrades: “We’re slowly replacing the old mono units with the colour towers, but there’s no space in the pressroom for more,” he says.
The line currently includes two mono units and Goss SC and 1500 folders, handling the 35,000-42,000 copy print run with integrated preprinted sections inserted by hand. An electrical upgrade is expected to increase production speed to 25,000 cph, but this will still be substantially below the rated capability of the new towers.
Harvey, who moved to Papua New Guinea from News’ huge Melbourne print site – where a bike is needed to get from one end of the pressroom to the other – is still adjusting: “It’s the most challenging posting I’ve had,” he says. His career with News has included 22 years at the Cairns Post, and spells in Brisbane and Sydney before the five years at Westgate Park, Melbourne.
But with the tropical climate and trips home to see his wife in Cairns, where she runs her own business, he reckons he has the best of both worlds.