Muddy section of h’way causes problems for road users

By DOROTHY MARK
PASSENGERS had to get off a bus and push it through a soggy section of the Madang-Usino highway yesterday as the wet weather continued to cause problems for road users.
The two stretches between Tapopo and Negeri are almost unpassable and required passengers to push the vehicles through.
PMV driver Ronny Sailas said some passengers pushed while others used ropes to pull at the other end.
Only four-wheel-drive vehicles can pass through easily.
Madang’s National Works branch manager Andrew Kendaura said contractors has been engaged to upgrade bad sections of the road.
Kendaura said the Wass Matau Construction Company began work yesterday.
Water running across sections of the road damaged the surface.
Sailas suggested that drains should be dug along the sides of roads to allow water to flow away.
The Usino-Madang highway runs around the Finnisterer mountain range.
Many sections are therefore prone to water gushing down from the slopes.
Kendaura said they planned to build drains along that section of the highway.