Truckers: Fix highway

IMMEDIATE action by the government is needed to fix parts of the Highlands Highway that are deteriorating to protect and enable transport of goods and people, Road Transport Association chairman Jacob Luke says.
In a meeting held on Monday in Lae, major trucking companies raised concerns regarding the deterioration of sections of the highway, the country’s main arterial route which had a direct impact on the economies of the Highlands and Morobe.
The bad road sections on the highway have caused trucking companies millions of kina in operational costs.
Luke said criminals and opportunists also took advantage to rob and loot trucks carrying cargo meant for the region’s major businesses.
He said the government needed to act appropriately or the worsening situation would force many companies out of businesses.
“We would like the government to give us an answer on what it will do to provide an environment to conduct business along Highlands Highway which is crucial to the transport of goods and services to the entire Highlands region as well as other coastal provinces,” Luke said.
Traisa Transport national operations manager Alan Young told the meeting that the present state of the highway was proving costly to their operations.
“Not one day goes passed where we don’t have to pay money to somebody up the highway.”