Response system needed

 By PISAI GUMAR

THE Government should have a quick-response system to deal with “emergencies” such as landslides or collapsing of bridges on national highways, a businessman says.

Road Transport Association president Jacob Luke, who owns Mapai Transport operating trucks on the Highlands Highway, had been at the Yafuna landslide site near Kol Wara, Yonki in Kainantu since last Wednesday to watch the progress of repair works.

He and other association members provided fuel and food for workers and police officers at the site. The landslide occurred on February 17 and the highway was re-opened on Wednesday this week.

He said those involved in the trucking business lost a lot whenever the highway was closed. And the quicker it is reopened, the better for them.

He said a quick-response unit should be able to deal quickly with natural disasters which forced the closure of the highway.   

Eastern Highlands Works supervisor and civil engineer Dominic Keoa said the estimated cost of stabilising the temporary bypass and the backfill of damaged asphalts would be between K80,000 and K90,000.

“It will take six to 12 weeks to restore proper accessibility to allow normal traffic flow,” Keoa said.

Meanwhile, Works Secretary David Wereh said work would begin immediately on building permanent structures for the Bena Bridge and Kol Wara road sections of the Highlands Highway.

He said this after a temporary road access was completed yesterday at Kol Wara between Yonki and Kainantu to enable full traffic flow.

The Kol Wara section was damaged by a landslip on Tuesday last week, a day after the Bena River bridge was washed away by floodwaters. A temporary bypass was opened at Bena last Friday.