The residents of Edai town and business houses along the Napanapa highway, outside Port Moresby have appealed to the Government to swiftly step in and address the deteriorating condition of the poorly maintained highway.
They expressed frustration at the extremely slow and drawn out rehabilitation of the Napanapa Road project. It has been close to two years since a signage was put at the roundabout adjacent to the East-West Transport yard at Baruni, announcing the commencement of the road rehabilitation, however, not much has been implemented.
The Edai town residents through their roads committee handed a petition to the Member for Hiri-Koiari, Keith Iduhu in Port Moresby last Thursday, March 23 seeking his support to take their concerns further up with the government.
The Committee Chair-person, Alice Kuaningi when handing the petition emphasized on the importance of the Napanapa highway, the current state of the road and the consequences faced by commuters as a result of the deteriorating road condition.
Ms Kuaningi said, “Napanapa highway is an important government infrastructure that serves not only villagers and communities in the area but also businesses including the multi-billion kina PNG LNG Project, the upcoming Papua LNG and other privately run commercial activities along the highway. Since the relocation of PNG Ports Corporation owned wharves from Down Port Moresby to Motukea, the transportation of all import and export are done using the Nananapa highway.”
She stated that the increased trucking activities and the usual wear and tear have taken a toll on the road surface as the initial road was not built to handle such heavy loads.
The daily stress on the road surface, coupled with lack of maintenance, has resulted in the creation of huge potholes at various parts of the road, posing danger to the general travelling public; especially residents who commute back and forth for school and work in the NCD area.
“The swerving of semi-trailer trucks to avoid potholes puts smaller commuter transport at risk of collision,” Ms Kuaningi said.
A Committee member, Wesley Spinder added that potholes slow down traffic in general, putting the commuters’ lives at risk as there were instances of carjacking and hold ups. He highlighted that the current road condition has also resulted in unreasonable wear and tear costs on vehicle and vehicle parts.
“There have been several holds ups in the Baruni roundabout and Koukou areas, and our Edai Town families are among those who have been victimised.”
“The poor road condition also means there is an increased maintenance costs, and spare parts replacement, all at a time when the costs of goods and services are already at an elevated level,” Mr Spinder said
Dust clouds is another issue the commuters deal with on a daily basis. There is reduced visibility for oncoming traffic due to the size of trucks and the dust clouds created when they travel through potholed areas.
The increased dust swells from passing vehicles have prompted residents along Koukou to build humps and even place boulders on the road to slow down speeding vehicles. This results in safety hazard as smaller vehicles often have difficulty crossing over the humps and large boulders.
The committee in its petition has suggested for a four-lane road to be built to help ease the movement of people and activities on the highway.
“As more people and businesses move into Hiri West area of Hiri-Koiari District, we believe a “four lane road” would significantly reduce the dangers associated with commercial trucking. We believe it would also increase the efficiency of services to our area,” Ms Kuaningi concluded
MP Iduhu in receiving the petition, acknowledged issues raised by Edai residents and the business houses and has assured to take them up with the Minister for Works.
He is also keen to get more information on the current road maintenance arrangement and the work progress.