Awesa wants maintenance law to end land compo

 WORKS Minister Francis Awesa has called on the government to introduce the infrastructure maintenance law to stop land compensation in the highlands.

Awesa said land compensation was a major hindrance to development and prosperity in the country.

He said it should not be used as an excuse to derail and hold major infrastructural development to ransom by a handful of people, denying thousands of people who needed the services.

“We cannot move forward when indivi­duals and groups put major project to ransom,” Awesa said.

“We have to put the national infrastructure maintenance law in place so that those holding projects to ransom can be imprisoned. 

“We cannot stop people from being denied services by a minority group.

“The police force should enforce the law now to put a stop to all the nonsense of hefty land compensations over road maintenances on existing roads and have those responsible arrested and jailed for five years.”

Awesa added that the Defence Force had been under-utilised and should be engaged with major contractors on the Highlands Highway and also provide security for these projects.

He praised the PNGDF engineering team for its work on 21 bridges in Hela and Southern Highlands.

The minister also raised concerns about the assessment of properties in project areas, citing Chimbu where K54 million had been paid to landowners for assessment of properties and damages.

Awesa said the assessments needed to be done properly by engaging qualified and satisfied valuators to assess and valuate the properties.

He said the government would pay for the damages but it had to be done transparently and not to be abused to claim so much from the state.