Contractor: We’re still working

 THE contractor working on the Sapa bridge in Morobe Patrol Post has refuted claims that he had left the work incomplete.

Giuawa Tiaga said in Lae yesterday that work had to be temporarily suspended because most of the funds guaranteed to his company, Hallmark Structure Works (HSW), had not been made available and the local level government elections had further delayed the payment process. 

The National reported yesterday that HSW had abandoned work and its workers had not been paid  after receiving only K118,000 from the Huon Gulf joint district planning and budget priority committee.

Tiaga said much of the fund had been used in preparatory work. 

“Some people presume the amount of money as large but K70,000 in all went to preparatory work and to ferry material and supplies across from Lae to the project site and zoom (fuel) for outboard motors is costly,” he said. 

“The work was estimated at K1,089,000 and Huon district used about K500,000 to purchase bridge parts and transport them to the site and K500,000 was to be used on civil works on site.”