Locals struggling months after bridge collapsed

A BRIDGE which collapsed in March and yet to be repaired is causing a lot of travel problems for people in Bogia district, Madang.
The Nubia bridge collapsed on March 18 after heavy flooding in the area.
Kayan village court magistrate Richard Bass said the Madang-Bogia highway which reached Kayan village was in a poor state and urgently needed government attention.
Bass said vehicles could cross the river near the mouth of the Nubia River only at low tide. People have to wait at either side at high tide or when it is flooding.
He said people sometimes hired boats to cross.
He said last Friday, a dingy ferrying him and 21 others capsized near Awar and Boroi villages.
“Eight children and 14 adults were on board when the boat capsized after being hit by strong waves,” Bass said.
He saved a five-year-old boy from Tangoed while his parents managed to save their two other children.
PMV owner Thomas Morris said people had to resort to dinghies because vehicles could not use the road.
Madang’s Works manager Andrew Kendaura said the bridge and parts of the road would fixed next year with funding from the World Bank.