Nipa locals call on govt to fix roads

Highlands, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday 15th Febuary 2012

By JAMES APA GUMUNO
PEOPLE living between Kiburu road junction to Ambua Gap in the Tari district, Hela raise grave concern about the fast deteriorating section of the road.
The villagers blamed big trucking companies engaged in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project for spoiling the road.
The villagers claimed that the locals operating PMV services between Ambua and Mendi town were badly affected.
They claimed that the most affected sections of the road include Tindom Hill, Poroma, Nipa station, Kopa and Maggi Hill.
A PMV operator in Nipa, Gilbert John, said on Monday the road had gone from bad to worse because of the continuous movement of the big trucks transporting heavy machinery and equipment to LNG sites.
Deputy council president for Nipa Basin LLG Frank Warip said that due to bad weather and continuous raining, five vehicles went off the road between Tindom Hill and Kiburu road junction last week.
Warip said this included two buses and three Land Cruisers owned by the locals except for a 15-seater bus owned by the Guard Dog Security company.
He said on Sunday night two trucks belonging to Trans Wonderland bogged down at Kopa village in the Poroma while on their way to Hela.
He said due to slippery section of the road, the trucks find hard to drive up the slope and as a result they blocked the road completely.
Warip said the locals constructed by-pass road and charging vehicles between K50 and K100 to pass.
He called on the developer and government to intervene and fix the road.
He said that since the Kutubu oil was first export 20 years ago, Nipa people did not benefit and now the same seemed to be happening with the LNG project.
One of the former translators during the colonial period Chief Aleppa Ess said the government needed to act quickly before the locals take the matter into their hands.
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