Long and winding road

The development of Papua New Guinea’s road network has not been without problems and challenges that usually confront emerging third world nations.
While road transport has been a key priority of successive governments since independence, sustainable development of the road network has been severely hampered by budgetary constraints and other competing priorities.
PNG’s road network extends over 30,000km, comprising 9,000km of national roads and 21,000km of provincial and district roads including 1,590 bridge structures.
National roads link provincial capitals and main population centres while provincial and district roads provide secondary and tertiary links to national highways.
The network has suffered from inconsistent and inadequate funding over the years. Previous levels of road maintenance and rehabilitation have been in the order of 25-30 per cent of the funds required to sustain serviceability of the road network.
When the O’Neill Government assumed office in 2012, more than 75 per cent of the road network remained in failed and poor condition with a massive maintenance backlog of K3-4 billion.
The key challenge for the current government has been to provide an efficient, reliable and high quality land transport system that can support socio-economic development and growth. Road transport alone caters for 80 per cent of passenger and freight demands in PNG.
In line with the country’s strategic development goals, the government embarked on a simplified five-year priority programme in 2013, which targeted the road network recovery and improvement of the failed sections of the national highways, provincial and district roads.
The priority programme included: Rebuilding the Highlands Highway; upgrading of Lae City roads to concrete standard; upgrading of Port Moresby roads; upgrading and sealing of 2,500km of national highways in poor or failed condition; opening up of economic corridors; maintaining the service level of 3,000km of national roads in good condition through performance-based multi-year contracts; maintaining and replacement of 800m of bridge structures; and revitalising the Plant and Transport Division (PTD) to maintain and improve provincial and district roads. Since 2013 the Department of Works (DOW) has been upgrading many of the existing gravel sections and rebuilding many of the national highways to bitumen standards and opening up important economic corridors throughout the country.
The total expenditure for roads and bridges maintenance and rehabilitation as well as construction of new road sections on some missing links from 2013 to the present is more than K3 billion.
DOW remains the key arm of government in accelerating national development through the provision of reliable and safe road infrastructure to the extent that PNG’s socio-economic development, as prescribed by Vision 2050.
The department has come a long way in terms of road transport infrastructure development and maintenance. Starting with the rural labour intensive approach in 1950-70s to plant and transport machine-based construction and maintenance methods in 1980-90s and later supported by the private sector, DOW drove the road construction and maintenance agenda to help grow PNG. It is estimated that the current asset value of the national roads in their present condition is K35 billion.
The lack of an efficient and cost-effective road maintenance system has been a thorn in the side of successive governments since independence.
The World Bank said recently that PNG’s policy of constantly allocating insufficient funds for road maintenance and conservation was not sustainable in the long term and did not permit optimisation of the cost benefit relationship.
It is obvious the current system is not capable of sustaining the road network in an acceptable condition at a reasonable cost.
In light of the dire need to create a sustainable maintenance environment based on guaranteed funding to provide consistency, quality and value for money, DOW has embarked on a government policy direction to involve the private sector in managing and maintaining the 16 priority roads throughout the country.
Under this Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative, the contractor is engaged full time to maintain a specified level of service. The timely attendance to the usual issues of potholes, landslips and emergencies, overgrown vegetation and blocked drainage are among the contractor’s key tasks.
Essentially, the idea is to transfer management and maintenance responsibilities of the 16 priority roads to the private sector, including the responsibility for carrying out all physical works required to keep the roads in consistently good condition.
The concept was initially implemented with AusAID funding under a 12-months maintenance contract on the Eastern Highlands section of the Highlands Highway and resulted in improved conditions of the road.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) maintains that PPP can support the development and functioning of infrastructure.
“As the road maintenance need is becoming very expensive and technically demanding, involving the private sector in PPP can lighten the current financial burden and multiply the impact of the limited sector resources,” the bank said.
Results from around the world confirm that contracting road maintenance on a long term performance can save up to 40 per cent costs as compared to current maintenance systems.
It is obvious that the current funding levels do not keep pace with rising costs of maintenance needs and the cost for the clearing of the ever-increasing deferred maintenance backlog.
According to current estimates, DOW requires a minimum of K1.7 billion per year to improve the national highways and key provincial roads up to 2020.
Aside from the national priority roads, funding for provincial and district roads is still inadequate and inconsistent. These roads serve the rural and remote areas but continue to suffer from lack of proper maintenance.
Works Secretary David Wereh laments the pre and post-independence era when provincial and district roads were systematically maintained by the Plant and Transport Division of the then Public Works Department (PWD).
“In those days PNG did not have the kind of wealth it enjoys now but the roads were well maintained on a regular basis by PTD. The country lived within its means and government services were delivered without the financial and bureaucratic issues that we now face.”
Under Wereh’s watch, the PTD concept has been revived and is now fully functional in all 22 provinces with workshop facilities, manpower and back-up services.
Development partner Jica of Japan provided a wide range of new construction equipment to help re-fleet PTD in 2016.
DOW has streamlined the use of PTD equipment and workshop facilities to support provincial governments and district authorities to roll out sustainable road maintenance programmes.
The PTD concept is effective and cheaper than other systems such as private contractors and will continue to be an integral part of DOW operations. Nonetheless, Wereh insists there are no quick-fix solutions to the current issues and challenges facing the road sector.
“The task of improving and sustaining our road network to good condition level is arduous and challenging.
“Despite the current financial woes faced by our country, we must build on the momentum and commitment that has been set by this government and the department to realise real improvements in road infrastructure services.”
Wereh added that roads drove the PNG economy, especially the national highways, which must be given top priority by the government through adequate and consistent budgetary support.
“Some of the revenue generated by our national highways will then be used to develop and maintain other roads that mainly cater for the delivery of government goods and services.
“After all, wealth does not create roads but roads create wealth.”
Other challenges that DOW continue to face include impacts of climate change, issues of landowner compensation and local contractor capacity.

Impacts of climate change
Impacts of climate change on road transport infrastructure has become frequent and costly in the past five years. More than K100 million has already been spent in emergency and recovery works. DOW has developed a disaster management and restoration plan to manage and minimise risks related to major road closures.
Compensation claims have become a major industry in PNG. DOW was initially inundated with more than K500 million worth of compensation claims from all over the country. That amount is steadily being reduced as DOW challenges the claims in court. Genuine compensation claims are now being converted into community development projects such as schools and health facilities.
In line with the Government’s SME policy to develop local industry base, DOW has been working on the best way to build local contractor capacity to deliver good quality and value for money projects. DOW contracts, including donor-funded projects, are now issued with 40-50 per cent allowance for local participation.
Over the last five years, almost K1billion worth of works and payments have been retained in the local industry.
Secretary Wereh, who was recently reappointed for another four-year term, is confident DOW will ride out the current financial tide and become more efficient and effective under a proposed organisational restructure.
“DOW is focused on creating a robust and innovative organisation to effectively and efficiently deliver services for all infrastructure projects and ensure that these are delivered to specification on time and within budget.”
He is also adamant that DOW must rid itself of the public service mentality that is still prevalent among the majority of its workforce.
“The public service mentality remains a major stumbling block to increased efficiency and productivity of our workforce. If DOW is to become an effective and robust organisation, there must be a significant shift in work attitudes and mindsets.
“We must show greater commitment by working harder and more efficiently so that vital road services are delivered for the greater good of our people and country.
“The famous words of former US President John F. Kennedy – ‘ask not what the country can do for you but what you can do for the country’ – are as relevant today for Papua New Guineans as they were for Americans in the 1960s.”

• This article was supplied by the Department of Works.