China funds K21m road in Madang

 By ANCILLA WRAKUALE

THE Chinese government has given more than K21 million, through its development grants, for the construction of a road from Usino junction to Yamagi bridge in Madang.

The agreement signing for the road was held yesterday at the Vulupindi Haus between the Chinese government and PNG.

The road construction will commence in April and will be carried out by MCC Communication Engineering Technology Co and is said to cover at least 21km from Usino junction to Yamagi Bridge where it connects to the RamuNiCo Kurumbukari mine site.

The construction company is from Beijing and would be based in Madang.

The project comes under the Chinese government’s economic and technical cooperation agreement.

Acting secretary for National Planning and Monitoring Ruby Zarriga thanked the Chinese government for making available the funds to support development in PNG.

“This help is very vital and it will link up isolated areas of PNG,” Zarriga said.

She said the road would serve the mine as well as locals living adjacent to the road connecting the Lae-Madang Highway.

Chinese ambassador Qui Bohua said China was willing to help PNG develop as it was once like PNG some years back.

He also urged the construction company to have closer cooperation with PNG to make the construction successful.

Qui added that although China was the second largest economy in the world, the country still struggled just like PNG in some areas.

However, he said he was confident that PNG’s economy would be one of the most powerful in the region in the coming years given its diverse natural resources.