I WAS amazed by the comments Don Polye made (Oct 22) to justify his plans for his K1.2 billion highway. His comments were clearly related to the series of letters published in The National.
I call on the good minister to outline the socio-economic analysis of his proposal and justifications.
I have yet to see a technical report, if any, on the proposed highway.
We know that due to the cyclical nature of the resource boom, the surplus our Government speaks of may not be around in four or five years down the road.
This begs the question of how do we pay for the K1.2 billion loan (and possibly more), while waiting for the next resource boom.
We know that the main link to the port of Lae, the Okuk (Highlands) Highway suffers from frequent landslips, which have reduced sections of the highway to a one-lane road.
We know that districts of Goroka, Mt Hagen and Simbu, etc, do not have proper “all weather” or sealed road.
We know transport companies charge us more for freight than they should because of the crime-infested Okuk Highway.
Is Polye implying that Lae port is congested with exports that we wouldn’t be able to get our produce (coffee) to the markets of Asia or Europe within a certain timeframe?
Is the minister spending K1.2 billion so that highlanders can go to Port Moresby to sell peanuts, greens and buy buai so they can take it back to the highlands or the Papuans can go up the highlands to buy Chinese cabbage?
Does that make economic sense?
Tell us some thing we do not know about your proposal that it is worth spending K1.2 billion.
What we do not need is MPs coming up with hare-brained ideas that put us into more debts.

Concerned expat
Via email