Road maintenance project to boost agro sector once completed

PEOPLE in Dei, Western Highlands, using the Eng-Muglamp Road, will soon be travelling on a sealed road, Dei development authority (DDA) chief executive officer Batamai Tipi says.
Tipi said the 20.8km Eng-Muglamp Road had been in a poor state and this had caused problems for the transport of garden produce to Mt Hagen. He said local MP Westley Nukundj had been instrumental in having the road sealed.
Tipi said the provincial and the national government had also assisted with counter funding for the project.
He said an estimated 20,000 people would have access to the road and it would also benefit the district’s coffee production and farming.
Tipi said four bridges destroyed by flooding – Gumanch, Tenga, Kereldong and Yangan – would also be rebuilt under the same project.
He said Kaia Works had been contracted to do the road upgrading and sealing while Giru Ltd was awarded the contract to rebuild the bridges.
“The exact figure of the sealing and the bridges will be made known later, but in the meantime, people are using the upgraded road while it is still in its first phase,” he said.
Tipi said Nukundj had been looking at major projects that would benefit the majority.
He said the road would improve the lives of the locals through access to health, education and other services.