What’s the story with Banab, Nubia bridges?

THE question in the minds and hearts of people travelling the Bogia-North Coast Highway is, “When will Banab Bridge be fixed?”
The same goes for Nubia Bridge in Bogia. It’s a pity that Port Moresby is having all these new developments like roads and buildings built at the same time while infrastructures like Banab Bridge in North Coast and Nubia Bridge in Bogia are taking ages to fix.
I do not know if people find joy in reading about these bridges and the inconveniencies faced by people when they get there, like fighting, stealing, abuses, killings, and death, as was reported in The National lately.
To some of us, it’s a nightmare and we don’t want to hear of it anymore.
The issues faced at the site of these two bridges have been well documented.
They have been discussed on the floor of Parliament, in the mainstream media and on social media. The K4 million needed to build a new Banab Bridge was allocated long before Papua New Guinea hosted the Apec Leaders’ Summit in Port Moresby.
Remember that natural disasters strike any time and when they do, they take precedence over everything else and chew up money, even money that has been allocated for something else.
Now the country is facing a dry spell and the concern is that if things get worse then money will be diverted to dealing with the humanitarian side of that.
My point is that when money is allocated for a certain project, in this case the Banab and Nubia bridges, we should move quickly to complete those projects before we get caught up with other issues.
The report in The National that a boy from Manam Island, in Bogia, died while waiting to cross Banap River to get to the hospital is tragic.
That boy had a future, a life to live, a generation to produce and the potential to become a leader. That hope has been snuffed out because we took too long to get things done.
The authorities should fix Banap and Nubia bridges quickly.

Jerry Ambali
Lae