Tabubil-Telefomin road update: 30km completed

National

THIRTY kilometres of construction work have been completed for the Tabubil-Telefomin road, Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) chief executive officer (CEO) Musje Werror says.
Werror said the road would be 75km long once completed, linking Telefomin station in West Sepik to Kiunga in Western and would cost K120 million, funded through a tax credit scheme.
He said Telefomin, which had a population of more than 60,000, received services through Tabubil and Kiunga in Western instead of its provincial town in Vanimo.
“It takes locals three days to walk from Telefomin to Tabubil to access services,” he said.
“This, including a number of aircraft crashes due to bad weather conditions over the years, compelled Member for Telefomin Solan Mirisim to approach OTLM to fund the road project under the tax credit scheme.
“The K120 million project began in 2019 and as of last month, the project has reached 30km from Tabubil and is at the top of the Hindenburg wall.
“The terrain is very challenging and prone to high rainfall events, landslips, slippery conditions and dense vegetation.”