Works says h’way compo ready

WORKS secretary Joel Luma has announced that compensation payments for structures along two critical sections of the Highlands Highway are ready to be paid to the legitimate owners.
“After getting their cheques, all owners of these structures must ensure the structures are removed within three months,” he said.
“Failure to do that will result in forced removal by police under provisions of the new Protection of Transport Infrastructure Act, 2010.”
The department had engaged a private contractor to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to verify all claims for compensation for structures along these two sections of the highway, Luma said.
The two sections of the highway are the Chimbu section and the 54km Ankura River to Kagul River section, in the Southern Highlands.
All structures that are within the 40m road corridor along these two sections of the highway have been mapped out using GPS technology and their owners have been properly identified.
The exercise has been completed and the payments are now ready to be given to the legitimate owners.
“Other structures that were assessed by the valuation team but are outside of the 40m road corridor have been eliminated and owners will not be paid because there is no reason to remove these structures.”
He said such payments would be deemed to be illegal.
Luma said the payments would be done on site, meaning that the legitimate owners of the structures would be required to be at the site of their structures to sign a deed of release as the State team drove through the highway to hand out their cheques.
The state team will comprise police, Department of Works officials, provincial authorities and Mori Resources Ltd, the contractor that verified all claims using GPS technology.