Banab Bridge

The bridge, which collapsed on Thursday, January 04^th, is a link that serves many villagers from parts of Sumkar, Karkar and locals from East Sepik who travel via dinghies from Angoram to Bogia and other boat stops.

It is believed that the infrastructure was over 60 years old, and collapsed under excessive weight caused by a semi-trailer transporting an excavator.

National Planning and Monitoring Minister, Richard Maru, said this yesterday when addressing locals at the site of the collapsed bridge.

The Banab Bridge collapsed 10 weeks ago, affecting locals from Bogia to Sumkar, even as far as West Sepik, from travelling to Madang Town.

The Banab Bridge has been down for more than two months, not only affecting travellers’ access but also economic activity in the area.

Yesterday, Minister Maru visited the site of the collapsed bridge and personally advised locals on the amount of money needed to construct a new bridge.

The town is usually packed with locals from all over the province, however, this is not the case as many of these frequent town goers cannot travel in; even the bus stops to the main highway were absent of PMV trucks – especially the Bogia bus stop.

The bridge, which collapsed on Thursday, January 04^th is a link that serves many villagers from parts of Sumkar, Karkar and locals from East Sepik who travel via dinghies from Angoram to Bogia and other boat stops.