Company upgrades road at own cost

 By BENNY GETENG

A SECTION of Sir John Guise Drive at Waigani, in Port Moresby, has been re-done by the construction company that recently upgraded it, a government official said.

Works Secretary David Wereh said Dekenai Construction was meeting the cost of the upgrade on the section of the road opposite the old Pineapple Building at Waigani.

The road was initially upgraded by the company for the visit by Prince Charles and Camilla last year. The portion of the road was not properly completed and had to be re-done.

Wereh advised the National Roads Authority chief executive officer Ponege Poya that the defects of liability was for 12 months and the company responsible for contracting and working on the road was to meet the cost of repair or maintenance.

Poya said it could be seen as a workmanship failure or water pipes under the road might have leaked causing the problem.

“We don’t know the reason behind the upgrading the road. Only the company can comment on the condition of the road that they are upgrading,” he said.

An engineer from Dekenai Construction said they noticed about a month ago that the surface of the road had shifted. “We notified the Works Department and decided to conduct an excavation on that part of the road,” she said. 

“We found out that a form of blue clay below the surface of the 150mm road caused the road to sink.”

He said the section of the road being repaired was 100m long and 10m wide. The cost of building the three lane road last year was K10.6 million, he said.