Former Madang governor suggests road re-routed to avoid erosion

By DOROTHY MARK
The Madang-Bogia Highway can be re-routed through the new Banab-Wasab road to avoid the risk of coastline village Matugar from being washed away, former Madang governor James Yali says.
Yali’s suggestion comes as more erosion of the Matugar coastline is evident from the nearby national highway.
In fact, even the highway ledge has eroded so fast that it is on the verge of wearing off the sealed section of the highway in front of the village.
Yali said the Government should use the situation of the collapsed Banab Bridge to re-route the national highway inland so that vehicles could travel from Banab village to Wasab and emerge at Kusein village near the Mugil Health Centre.
He said there were possible existing feeder roads which the Government should consider restoring.
Sumkar MP Chris Nangoi said he planned to visit and inspect the route, and instruct engineers to scope it so that the district could budget for its clearance and upgrading.
Nangoi said Sumkar and Bogia people contributed to the economy of the province and problems with roads caused breakdowns in the economy.
“Our people need to travel into town to sell their copra and cocoa,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nangoi said the Department of Agriculture and Livestock in the province would calculate the amount of damage done to cash crops when the Banab-Wasab bypass was built.
He said people who had their crops destroyed could be compensated after officers from the department visited and made assessments.
It is understood the Wasab people wanted some sort of payment before allowing vehicles to pass through their land using the bypass created over the weekend after the Banab Bridge on the Madang-Bogia Highway collapsed two weeks ago.