Government committed to having roads open: Wereh

WORKS Secretary David Wereh says the Government is committed to ensure all highways in the country are open.
Wereh said this following the restoration of road accessibility along the Ramu-Madang Highway on Monday night.
The Ramu-Madang Highway was completely cut off since Friday after culverts at the Tapo section of the highway was washed away by flash floods due to unusual heavy rains.
The Works Department has responded quickly and engaged contractors to carry out emergency work which resulted in normal traffic being restored on Monday, after almost four days.
Wereh said the Government was committed to ensure all highways were open 24 hours so goods and services would reach people and businesses.
“The Ramu-Madang Highway is an important highway which is also in the pipeline of major rehabilitation works starting with the Asian Development Bank bridging programme in which six bridges and major culverts will be built to withstand the force of mother nature,” he said.
Wereh said the Government had shown concern about the country’s ageing infrastructure and the growing need for high-standard design to build road transport infrastructure.
“The department has put in place a master plan as a road map for road transport infrastructure in PNG.”
Wereh said the Government’s plan included the Highlands Highway which was the first in the country to get a K3 billion ADB loan programme that would rehabilitate 430km of the highway.