Highlands H’way leads in funding cut

The National Main Stories

THE Highlands Highway heads a list of several major road projects around the country worth K128.46 million that have had their funding cut in the 2016 Budget.
The highway, a vital lifeline which links the port city of Lae to the Highlands, has had a reduction of K25 million.
Works and Implementation Department itself has had a cut of K48.7 million.
This is according to explanatory documents for the 2016 supplementary budget handed down last Thursday by Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch.
Finance Minister James Marape told The National yesterday that the Highlands Highway and all other projects cut from funding in the supplementary would be continued in the 2017 Budget to be handed down in November.
Works Secretary David Wereh said he could not comment until he properly studied the supplementary budget papers.
Major road projects cut are:

  • Highlands Highway K25m;
  • New Britain Highway K20m;
  • Boluminski Highway K15m;
  • Hiritano Highway K15m;
  • Kokoda Highway K10m;
  • Madang Town Roads K10 million;
  • Kandrian-Kimbe Road K5m;
  • Magi Highway K5m;
  • Koroba Town Road K5m;
  • Aitape-Vanimo Highway K5m;
  • Baiyer-Madang Road K4m;
  • Lae City Roads K3m;
  • Sepik Highway K3m;
  • Highlands Region Road Improvement Programme K2.5m; and,
  • Highlands Region Roads Improvement Investment Programme K960,000.

“We are simply cutting the non-priority ones and deferring the core Government commitments to the next budget,” Marape said.
“As you know, it’s only August now, only four months before the close of the year.
“Most of those deferred ones will be factored again for next year’s budget.
“We are living in hard times, so as a responsible Government, we just have to readjust.
“We have to live within our means.
“We could have easily been irresponsible, and given the election, blown out the budget but we had to be responsible and we brought it back to reality.”