SHP cut off

SOUTHERN Highlands province is cut off from the rest of the Highlands provinces after a section of the road at Mala village in the Nebilyer district of Western Highlands province was washed away by heavy rain on Tuesday night.
Vehicles ground to a halt and passengers were forced to walk across the deteriorating section of the road and swap PMVs on the other side.
Large trucks transporting heavy machinery for the PNG LNG project and other goods for Southern Highlands province are stranded in Mt Hagen.
Western Highlands provincial police commander Supt Kaiglo Ambane said yesterday that the road needed urgent maintenance to allow traffic to resume.
Supt Ambane said it was difficult to create a by-pass for the stranded vehicles.
He said an old culvert was washed away after it was fixed some three weeks ago when the Mala Creek washed away the same section of the road.
Supt Ambane said some leaders from Mala village who met him yesterday morning called on the Works Department to intervene quickly and fix the road.