Railway system plans set

By HELEN TARAWA
THE possibility of introducing a railway system is among several policy developments being initiated by the Department of Transport and its development partners, an official says.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister William Samb, who launched a Medium-Term Transport Plan 2 (MTTP 2) 2019-2022 on Tuesday, said work had started with central agencies and development partners to facilitate the Connect PNG Initiative to link up the country.
Samb said the development of the railway policy was progressing.
“It is anticipated that by mid-next year, a comprehensive railway policy with appropriate supporting legislations would be ready to progress the development of railway transport in the country,” he said.
Another was an electric vehicle development policy which would in the near future facilitate the introduction of electric vehicles in the country.
“This will no doubt reduce the cost of the transportation and provide clean energy to enhance our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Samb said.
He said it was an implementation plan for the national transport strategy developed to provide a holistic approach to the development of three modes of transport- land, sea and air.
He said the plan, for the first time, had identified new mega infrastructure projects poised to propel the country’s export-driven agenda forward.
“This includes development of Vanimo, Wewak, Kikori, Manus and other wharves, aimed at providing the necessary port infrastructure for areas which are developing massive large-scale agriculture commodities for export,” he said.