Works dept pledges to support local contractors

By GABRIEL FITO
The provincial works department in Wewak has pledged to support local road construction companies in the province so that they achieve high results in the quality of work displayed.
Provincial civil engineer Paul Pitaro said the provincial works office in Wewak had eight engineers, the highest number of engineers in a province, who could impart valuable technical advice, skills and knowledge to local contractors for all road projects in the districts’ feeder roads.
Pitaro said while the department engineers’ responsibilities cover all national highways only, their level of skills and professionalism could also be utilised on the feeder roads if their assistance was sought by respective district administrations.
Pitaro was speaking at the opening of a 7.9km road linking Sapuain village in the hinterlands of Dagua to the East and West Sepik last Saturday.
He said although the contractor, Wawen Engineering was new to the job, they had displayed good workmanship and was pleased with their efforts.
The road, which runs through some rugged terrains, was nicely worked on with heaps of gravel and two stretches of about 100m cemented as the hard rocks could not absorb the gravel.
After a careful inspection, Pitaro announced during the launch that the road was fit for all weather condition and praised Wawen Engineering for taking into consideration the technical advice provided by the department and blended it with their skills and with the support of the local people in bringing the project to fruition.
The project was funded by the national government at the cost of K2 million under its national transport rehabilitation programme.
Meanwhile, provincial police commander Insp Charles Parinjo called on the people of Sapuain to take ownership of the road by growing more cash crops so that they would attract the attention of the government to continually fund the maintenance of this important infrastructure.