People using Madang-Ramu H’way warned not to use bridge

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By DOROTHY MARK
PEOPLE using the Madang-Ramu Highway have been warned not to use the Yuriya Bridge near Dumpu in Ramu Valley which had skewed to one side, rendering it unpassable for vehicles.
Usino-Bundi district administrator Steven Biko said after the bridge tilted to one side at around 9pm on Monday, some drivers had tried to drive across it.
Biko warned that the bridge would collapse if more weight was put on it.
Local villager Pewa Aimai said people were forced to carry their cargo across on Monday night including bags of betel nut.
Vehicles were stranded on either side.
Aimai said as soon police and district administration officers left the scene, some drivers tried to cross the bridge.
It is one of the 10 bridges on the Government’s list due for upgrading under the European Investment Bank’s K1 billion funding.
The Madang-Ramu highway is frequented by trucks transporting chromite from Ramu Nickel’s Kurumbukari mine to Lae to be shipped overseas.
Usino-Bundi MP Jimmy Uguro said they were looking forward to the opening of the Usino-Yal road to offer an alternative route.