Highlands highway in bad shape

By GYNNIE KERO
TRUCKING operators along with the rest of the business sector are suffering from huge losses due to high cost of fuel, maintenance and repair, and the culprit is the road’s poor condition.
WR Carpenters general manager Waheed Naqui told Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council’s (CIMC) transport and infrastructure sectoral committee meeting yesterday the highway’s deteriorating condition was causing a big loss to investors.
He said the highway’s poor shape and derelict infrastructure was a hurdle to their activities.
Naqui said the company’s Highlands Estates was known for exporting the best tea and coffee.
“We are the only producers of tea in the country,” he said.
“With cargoes getting stuck on the highway, the quality of our product is affected.
“It’s a loss to us.
“Security is another issue.
“There is no guarantee for produce going down the Highlands highway smoothly … lots of roadblocks.”
Transport and infrastructure sectoral committee chairman Pae Gure said improving the infrastructure would require millions of kina.
He said many models could be used to solve the problem but implementation and sustainability issues remained a major challenge.