AT last work on Lae city roads begun last Monday.
Two reputable companies were engaged to carry out the work. They have moved machines into the city’s central business district and started digging up the roads.
The work is funded by the MP for Lae and Deputy Opposition leader Bart Philemon from his District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) funds and kick start the rehabilitation of the city’s road network.
The start of the work was hailed by the Department of Morobe and the Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
“It’s about time. The business community has been suffering for far too long and we are happy that Mr Philemon has made the move,” LCCI president Allan McLay said.
Mr Philemon allocated K600,000 from the DRIP towards the roads and expectations among the business community, the public service and the public was that the K25 million allocated by the government in the supplementary budget would follow.
“We understand that the governor is in Port Moresby chasing up that money and we expect him to get it soon and bring it to Lae,” Mr McLay said.
The Lae city council had already prioritised the roads in the city that would be funded from the rehabilitation programme and the work at the central business district were on the priority list.
Following the allocation of the funds in the supplementary and the commencement of the work, the Department of Morobe was putting together a special committee to manage the project.
“We want the funds to be transferred to the provincial treasury so that we manage it here.
“We want to ensure that good professional work is done and we want to engage good reputable companies to undertake the work,” the spokesman said.
Attempts to contact the city council management failed but some of the roads prioritised were at Eriku, Kamkumung, the Independence Drive (Kamkumung-Taraka), Boundary Road and several others.
The spokesman said the K25 million was not enough to do up all the roads but it would be used to rebuild the very bad sections of the road.
He said when the balance of the K50 million committed by the government was given in the 2008 budget; the rest of the roads would be repaired.