Official: Road work going well

THE newly-cut Erap-Dinangat road, which will link Kabwum to Lae in Morobe, has been progressing well, according to project manager Bommie Masawak.
Masawak said they had reached 9km of the road – from Rabisap in Nawaeb and almost to the border of Nawaeb and Kabwum.
“We have about 30km to go before we reach Dinangat in Yus, Kabwum,” he said.
“We’ve received K1.8 million from the Kabwum authority which was used to buy an excavator and a dump truck and build the 9km of road.
“We need counter funding from Nawaeb and the provincial government to help us reach Kabwum.
“This year, we were allocated K300,000 from the Kabwum authority and we need K5 million to complete the remaining 20km.”
Masawak said this road was important as it would be the economic corridor of upper Erap and Kabwum, and urged all levels of Government to step in and help the project.
“People of Yus use plane to transport them to and from Lae and this road connection will be a huge relief for them,” he said.
“It costs K7,000-K8,000 a charter to bring in education and health supplies from a plane into Yus.’”
Masawak said PMVs from upper Erap were starting to use the road.

An excavator working on the newly-cut road at Lowai,
upper Erap. 30km of the road is yet to be cleared and
worked on to reach Yus in Kabwum, Morobe.
– Picture supplied