Road project in Chimbu progressing

 FRESH cuts through forests to open up a new road into the Karamui district of Chimbu are  progressing well, project coordinator Apane Pire said.

“The road construction progress has reached Iriyari, the border of Gumine and Karamui districts, and heading towards Talpakul – the Waghi River,” he said. 

“We hope to reach there in the next two to three months.”

Pire said he was there with Ward six councillor of the Karamui local level government Simon Asa, who is tasked to furnish reports on the progress of the project to the Chimbu provincial government.

He said in the next two weeks, they should be in Altapia River before reaching Talpakul, then wait for the bridge to be set up across the Waghi River.

“The Karamui road project has been the topic of talks for decades until the current Governor Noah Kool, provincial Works chairman Thomas Bare, provincial administrator Joe KundaNaur and his deputy Otto Sine pushed to open it up,” Pire said.

He said locals in the area were paying K40 for a return trip from Iriyari to Kundiawa.

“They are excited to transport peanuts and bags of coffee to Kundiawa and return with store goods,” Pire said.

The construction started in 2013 from funding from Governor Kool’sprovincial services improvement programme (PSIP) and the  Government’s Public Investment Programme (PIP) funding.