Markham cut off by flooding

HEAVY rain high up in the Sauruan and Umi ranges in Morobe on Friday unleashed floodwaters onto the Markham Plains, heavily flooding the Highlands Highway at Mutzing and cutting traffic in half for the entire weekend.
The Mangiang River which runs alongside the highway for a fair distance burst its banks and spilled onto low-lying areas, completely inundating it for many kilometres.
Works and Implementation secretary David Wereh, who was at the scene, said trucks were filed up 20-30 deep on both sides of the highway at Mutzing.
“It is really a state of emergency here,” Wereh said.
“The situation is very critical. There are families and babies who are stranded. We do not want this to develop into a law and order situation as well.”
Wereh hascalled on heavy vehicle owners and public motor vehicles (PMV) buses at Lae, the highlands region and Madang to hold off any plans to traverse the highway until the all-clear is given by his team.

“The Deputy Speaker (Koni Iguan) was available and talking to the community to maintain order today,” Wereh said.
“Only when the flood subsides can we do some work. We have our contractors here and we are ready to do work but the flooding is too heavy.”
A small access way has been opened up which is presently being used by light trucks and four-wheel vehicles to pass through. Passengers going in either directions have been alighting at one end to ford the floods with their cargo and get on buses on the other end to continue their journey.
“Some things are beyond our control,” Wereh said.
“I hope nature can cooperate with us and stop the rain so that we can restore the road and return to normalcy.”
Wereh has toured the country to most disaster-stricken part of the country.
He has put the cost of restoring road transport infrastructure at over K75 million in Chimbu alone.