What’s happening with Madang roads?

Letters

ROAD machineries have ripped off the bitumen on a significant part of Modilon Road in Madang town, from centre of town all the way to near Nasfund House and Puma Service Station on Saturday.
This section had potholes, but the bitumen was intact in other parts.
However, the bitumen surface were ripped off and the Modilon Road was made to look as an outback gravel road.
With the peak of the dry season at hand, this section has become a dusty countryside road posing serious public health and safety risk to pedestrians, school children, residents and businesses houses along the road.
Couple of months back, the machineries ripped off the remaining bitumen at another section of the Modilon Road from Paramed to the Handymart junction via the Modilon General Hospital, Lutheran School of Nursing and the provincial administration headquarters.
This section has been a driving nightmare and dust bowl for many weeks now.
The sporadic grading and gravelling has not solved the road surface problems, but created more problems with disturbance of traffic, pedestrian use and poses public hazard and disturbance to business.
There is a National Court order for the Madang authorities to fix the road, but the public does not know what is happening.
Are the authorities sealing the road or are they grading and patching potholes?
I have not seen any billboard along the Modilon Road or other streets in town that clearly announces the commencement of the project, the project title, the funding source, the contractor, the engineers and whether the Works Department is providing the supervision.
A public billboard with details such as this is the standard practice in any public road project or other public infrastructure projects in the country.
This is not the case with what is happening in Madang town.
Given that public safety and normal flow of business, education and general life is being impacted, those in authority should inform the public on what is going on with Madang town road works.
I wonder if Works Minister Michael Nali and Works secretary David Wereh are aware of what is happening with Madang town roads.

Damaged and Dusted