NEC okays K12m for Lae-Wau road

By JEFFREY ELAPA
THE National Executive Council has approved more than K12 million for emergency roadwork on the Lae-Wau highway in Morobe.
It also includes flood relief in the Wau-Bulolo district.
Minister for National Planning Sam Basil said K12,856,573 had been allocated as emergency funds and would be used  immediately for affected communities.
The NEC has directed the Works Department to identify and implement a permanent solution to the Kumalu section of the Lae-Wau highway.
He said the Mumeng and Buang local level government areas had been declared disaster zones after continuous rain affected food gardens and houses. Roads had been washed away.
The NEC had granted emergency funding to provide immediate relief for the affected communities.
Basil said the government had already allocated K14 million for the construction of the Kumalu bypass in the 2012 budget in  a proposal he had submitted.
He said he would meet with Minister for Works and Transport Francis Awesa and Minister for Finance Don Polye to identify funding sources that would be made available to Morobe Mining to expand emergency road repairs it had started using its resources.
He said National Disaster and Emergency Services staff had already collected and compiled a final report on the damage done to Kumalu, Patep and Munanung villages.
He said the Buang back road access would be looked at for immediate funding because the front access was waterlogged.
He said specific sections of the road that had been surveyed by the provincial works department were Gurakor bridge, Samsam culvert, Baiune river bridge, Widiposh washout, Golden Pine washout, Gwapu (Namba 8) washout and Beni Section washout.
He said in a potential complementing relationship, Morobe Mining Joint Ventures, which operates the Hidden Valley mine, PNG Forest Products, and Zenag Farms had provided earthmoving equipment and technical expertise to the Morobe department of works to help in the highway emergency road works and flood relief project.
The Lae-Wau highway emergency road works and Flood Relief Project were intended to provide immediate relief to communities impacted by the flooding and restore the normal flow of the Snake river to reduce flooding.
He said it was to repair critically damaged sections of the highway and ensure access to all traffic through the Kumalu river debris field over the next three months or until a permanent solution was identified and implemented for the section of Lae-Bulolo highway that was destroyed by Kumalu river flooding in 2005 and 2006.
Basil called on Morobe Governor Luther Wenge to release K12 million that was paid as royalties to the provincial government to help the joint districts planning and budget priorities committee use it for flood relief supplies.