Simbu PMV drivers call for Transport probe

PMV drivers in Simbu province have called on the Transport Department to investigate the horrific traffic accident in Markham Valley this week. They made the call yesterday afternoon after a brief lunch hour meeting in Kundiawa. Former deputy governor of Simbu and PMV driver Garry Eremuge said that Simbu drivers want Works, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Don Polye to order an immediate investigation into the accident. Mr Eremuge said there are thousand of people travelling up and down the Okuk Highway every day, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. He said the killing of 43 people in a split of a second is like a massive tsunami that took away innocent lives at one go. “We want the National Transport Authority and Transport Departments to conduct an investigation to establish the real cause of the accident. “Whether it is the fault of the drivers, the pothole on the road or excessive speeding of the two PMV buses, we drivers in Simbu want the cause to be revealed in a professional investigation,” Mr Eremuge said. He also call on police traffic sections to test PMV drivers before they are allowed to drive PMV buses and trucks. “Unqualified drivers have been killing a lot of people along the Okuk Highway, this accident and loss of lives of innocent people are unwarranted,” he said. Mr Eremuge who is the President of Simbu National Alliance Party in Simbu said the Transport Department has to investigate the accident, because a similar one occurred along the Hiritano Highway last year.