Heavy rains causes trouble for Chimbu

By ZACHERY PER
RECENT rains have caused mud and debris to block the Wara-Tamba Creek near Kundiawa town in Chimbu.
That had led to floods threatening to cut off the road.
After a lengthy negotiation, the works division in Kundiawa brought an excavator and cleared the debris.
The Wara-Tamba section of the Highlands Highway was one of the major landslide areas identified in the province under the Highlands Highway Rehabilitation Programme (HHRP).
Wara-Tamba spokesman Gore Kaupa said the government was very slow in paying landowners affected in the landslide.
He said works officials had approached them several time to get clearance to clear the debris.
Kaupa said they would not help in future, especially if the government failed to pay landowners affected in landslides.
Simbu provincial administrator Joe Kunda said the number of highway trucks ferrying loads into the interior of the highlands region had increased since the liquefied natural gas project started.
He said the highway was deteriorating at a very fast rate and needed much government attention.
Kunda said the people along the Chimbu section of the highway were being paid under the HHRP but the road was deteriorating at a faster rate.