Debris cause of floods

The current wet season experienced throughout the country is expected to inflict more pain on a lone family living near the Rambumba Bridge along the West Coast of Wewak.
The river had been flooding its banks in the recent past causing major destruction to cocoa and betelnut plantations as huge logs and debris continued to build up on the bridge forcing the water into their plantations.
The Kinimbo family from Yangoru who had been living in Wewak for over three decades, was worried that their crops would soon die out if nothing was done to remove the logs and allow water to flow freely downstream.
The bridge was built by the Australian Army at the time when the West Coast highway that passes through Aitape and Vanimo in the Sandaun province was at its infant stage.
However, since independence there was no improvement done on to prevent collection of logs and debris during floods.
The Kinimbo family had claimed that most of their cocoa and betelnut trees near the bridge had died out as water that flooded its banks had denied their chance of survival.
The family claimed that this was because the bridge was built too low with its beam less than a metre above the water level.
The family had called on the Department of Works to immediately award contracts to clear the debris and other obstructions and consider replacing the bridge with much higher beams to solve the current problem.
They said the current logging activity upstream had also contributed to the problem of logs piling up at the bridge.
Attempts by The National to talk to the provincial works manager yesterday were unsuccessful.