Concerns over state of highway, effect on farmers

THE deteriorating state of the Highlands Highway is a concern for coffee farmers and exporters transporting their products from remote areas into Lae, Morobe, an official says.
New Guinea Highlands Coffee chief executive officer David Hannon said: “With the current status of the road needs of a lot of repair and maintenance, and as we are coming to the end of the wet season, the road is terrible. I spent last week driving from Mt Hagen to Goroka, the Highlands Highway is in a bad condition,” he said.
“The trip that used to take me two and a half hours now takes four and a half hours to five hours.
“The cost for us using transport companies to move coffee down the highway is an economic burden on the country because we have to pay more for freight and less for the coffee to the farmers. It’s good that Asian Development Bank had put in some money to fix and repair the highway from Nadzap (Lae) to Kagamuga (Mt Hagen).
“I met people in Kainantu and Goroko who said it’s being mobilised and it’s going to happen so hopefully our roads a fixed and as good as the roads in Port Moresby.”
Hannon said coffee was the only cash crop in the Highlands region and it was mixed in with the food crops.
“In PNG the women do all the work in the gardens and look after coffee too.
“In some ways, they are looking after it, but they definitely do need some services from government infrastructure, law and order to help these people be able to produce their crops safely and also get them into the market.”