Section of K110m city freeway open

By LUKE KAMA
THE first 1.2km section of the K110mil Poreporena Freeway road project in Port Moresby opened yesterday.
Port Moresby city manager Bernard Kipit, a civil engineer by profession, said the road was of high quality and met international standards.
“The lifespan of the previous Poreporena Freeway road was about 23 years,” he said.
“But I think this road will double up the lifespan and would even go beyond that because the improvement to the current standard is that the asphalt on the top is 100mm thick.
“This equates to about 10cm. That standard has never been applied to any road in PNG.”
The road rehabilitation is a Chinese aid project to assist PNG host the Apec Summit in November.
“After Apec, the project remains as a gift from the people of the Republic of China to PNG. It is a legacy project valued at around K110mil.”
Liu Linlin, the economic and commercial counsellor with the Chinese Embassy in Port Moresby, said the 8.6km road project was divided into 11 sections which should all be completed by November.
He said this was done to avoid traffic congestion and causing an inconvenience to the public and businesses in the city.
Linlin said at the request of the PNG Government, the Chinese Government was also building a 1.1km road from Parliament House to Waigani.
“The project started on April 1 and will conclude by the end of October.”