By JAMES APA GUMUNO
The Works Department needs to re-route the Simbu section of the Highlands Highway from Kundiawa town to Korinigle Bridge in the Kerowagi district.
This is because the highway is eroding in at least five areas of that part of the highway, and this would cost the Government millions of kina to rehabilitate.
Landslips had caused the highway to completely deteriorate making some areas look like single lane roads.
Despite major road re-sealing and maintenance carried out by Covec Construction on the road the ground continued to move and affects segments already fixed.
This is forcing the contractor to waste more time and resources on that section of the road.
The road segments badly affected are Waigar, Diugl, Dimbi, Mindima and near the old coffee factory known as Madang Block at Gon.
Diugl, Dimbi and Gon sections of the highway have partly collapsed, making them into single lane road.
At Waigar, about 15 m of the highway eroded, causing the road to sink and creating a crater-like hole in the middle of the road.
Covec Construction worked last year on the Waigar section by replacing the old rusty bend culvert with a new one, but may have to do this again.
The National Government awarded a contract to Covec to upgrade the section of the highway from Kundiawa town to the boarder of Simbu and Western Highlands at a cost of K32 million, while the part from Wara Simbu to Magero, the border of Simbu and Eastern Highlands province was awarded to Shorncliffe for K32 million.
Works Department officials in Kundiawa said the two companies were given 18 months to complete the road maintenance work, and they have six more months to go.
But this may be extended due to landslides, continuous rainfall and landowner compensation demands, which had slowed their work.
Member for Kundiawa/Gembogl and chairman of the Constitutional Reform Committee Joe Mek Teine said yesterday that a scope of work is now being carried out by the Works Department for a new alternative road from Kundiawa town to Murane then to Papnigle and to Waigar in the Kerowagi district.
Mr Teine said as soon as the scope of work is finalised they would be in a position to know what the costs would be like.
He said the Minister for Works and Transport Don Polye had given him support for the alternative road to be constructed.
Mr Polye announced a K2.4 billion plan to upgrade and build roads in the Highlands region, which includes re-routing the Simbu section of the highway, which had suffered many landslips costing the State millions of kina to repair.
The billion kina road plan will commence this year and end in 2020, and will be done in sections starting in the Southern Highlands and Enga, two of PNGs resource rich provinces.