Gazelle gets K6m for roads

THE East New Britain Works Department has successfully secured more than K6 million of roadworks for 2012 in the transport sector support programme funding under AusAID.
Provincial works manager Vitus Koian highlighted this last week during the final provincial coordinating monitoring committee meeting.
He said the road from Burma Hill to Vunadidir would be repaired and resealed next year at a cost of K6.6 million.
He said under the same programme, four minor contracts worth K750,000 had been secured mainly to
control vegetation, silt removal, pothole repairs and embankment protection.
The road projects will target areas around the northeast of the Gazelle Peninsula that were still experiencing washout from the unsteady grounds affected by the volcanic eruption.
Koian said tenders would be called early next year for the projects.
He presented the status of the seven national roads that were budgeted for this year under the development component.
The seven national roads are Warangoi, New Britain Highway, Korere, Vudal, Tokua, Lowlands Agriculture and Experimental Station (LAES) and Kerevat.
Koian said most projects were awarded at the Central Supplies Tenders Board with little consultation from the provincial supply and tenders board, which was why some of the projects were still pending.
He said Toma-Ratunur road was one of those pending although the board had awarded the K4 million contract to a local contractor. He said work had yet to start on the project.