EHP roads need urgent repair, say locals

By PHILIP ORE’E
LOCALS are complaining about the poor state of the Upper Dunantina, which links over 10,000 people of the Henganofi district of the Eastern Highlands.
The road, from the Kugumo-Highlands Highway junction stretches about 50km  Leona-Wasan constituency near the Ramu plain, in Madang.
A concerned PMV driver Patrick Kaure and a primary school teacher Jonke Bayamo said the road had been neglected for too long.
They said rural transport infrastructure like roads and bridges were vital links for the rural population and the government must give priority to regular maintenance.
“The people of Dunantina face extreme difficulties in transporting their garden produce and coffee to markets,” Kaure said.
He appealed to Henganofi MP Ferao Orimyo and Eastern Highlands Governor Malcolm Kela-Smith to immediately make funding available to upgrade the road.
Former provincial member Kisopa Sagao, who is from the Dunantina area, said they did not receive any government services from 2000 to this year.
He said in 2009, Kela-Smith signed an agreement to rehabilitate the road but nothing had been done.
The agreement was signed between the governor and Dunantina LLG in 2009 to rehabilitate the road.
Sagao said the agreement was now collecting dust.
“Actions speak louder than words, so do something for the good of the people of Dunantina valley,” he said to those responsible.