Truck drivers call on govt to fix highway

Story by ZACHERY PER
HIGHWAY truck drivers using the highlands highway have urged the government to immediately fix the road.
Trucks ferrying diesel for the Porgera Gold Mine and  supplies for the liquefied natural gas in Southern Highlands were forced to turn back at the Wara Tamba section of the highway in Chimbu province because of a landslide.
Philip Nendy, a veteran driver of 26 years, said the government was not serious about fixing the highway.
“The highway is riddled with potholes,” he said.
Some people divert water onto the road and collect money from passing trucks and vehicles while patching up the potholes.
Some people even fell trees across the road and demand money from motorists before they clear the road.
“The problems along the highway is too much to bear,” Nendy said.
He said truck drivers put their lives at risk to drive under trying conditions.
Nendy was speaking on behalf of some of the concerned drivers from different trucking firms.
Around 20 trucks from IPI Transport taking fuel for the giant Porgera gold mine were turned back from Wara Tamba.
They spent the night in Goroka and went back the next morning.
“If we stop, there will be no fuel, store goods, clothes, building materials.
“All the supplies will not be delivered and the people will suffer,” he said.
“We are human beings and the people especially along the highway must respect us.”
IPI operations mana­ger Franky Adam said the drivers were risking their lives to transport goods and supplies to the highlands.
He said the people needed to know the important role the drivers were playing in the nation building.
Paul Nilkare, the manager of the Waghi Valley Transport Goroka branch said two of their trucks were stopped at the Kassam Pass where thugs opened the containers and looted them.
He said the Wara Tamba and Daulo Pass sections were bad and the people were taking advantage of this to demand compensation and create problems for drivers on the highway.
“The government must intervene immediately to fix up this mess as the important LNG project will rely heavily on the highway,” Nilkare said.