Equipment diverted to Highlands

WORKS Minister Michael Nali, pictured, says plants and machinery scheduled for delivery to East and West Sepik under a Japanese government donation are being used for restoration work in the Highlands region.
West Sepik Governor Tony Wouwou asked Nali about the donation in Parliament on Friday.
Wouwou said the Japanese government through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) donated plants, equipment and machinery for road construction and maintenance to the government last year.
He said six of these machines were scheduled for the Sepiks but were not delivered despite an announcement by Nali during his visit to East and West Sepik in October last year.
Nali said the plants and machines were being use by the Works Department in earthquake-affected provinces of Hela, Enga and Southern Highlands.
“They were supposed to be delivered to them (East and West Sepik) but because of the disaster up in the Highlands and the Works Department not having plants, equipment and machinery to carry out emergency restoration works as the Works plant and transport division or Works
PTD was abolished some years back, we are using the machines to carry out restoration work,” he said.
“Now that emergency works are completed, I will make it my personal business to have them delivered to the Sepik provinces.”
Nali said Jica donated plants and equipment to assist disaster-prone provinces and these were planned to be stationed at the four regional centres.
“For Highlands, it will be stationed at Mt Hagen, for Niugini Islands it will be stationed at East New Britain, for Southern region it will be stationed at Oro (Northern) because it is a disaster-prone province and for Mamose, some will be stationed at Lae while some will be stationed at West Sepik to attend to emergencies in the East and West Sepik provinces,” he said.
He said if there was not a disaster in the Highlands then the machineries would have been already delivered to the Sepik provinces as per the Jica assistance wanted it.