Department of Works

Forty engineers, including two women, attended a 3-day capacity development training conducted in collaboration with the Civil Engineering Department of the PNG University of Technology (UNITECH).

Among the civil service engineers and sub engineers were company directors/managers, CEOs and officers of Provincial Division of Works, ESP, National Department of Works and Highway, Wewak, who deal with contract management and administration for road infrastructure works.

The MOU was signed in Port Moresby on October 16^th by Works Secretary, David Wereh, and Koroba-Kopiago District Development Authority CEO, Johnston Haguai.

The signing was witnessed by Works Minister Michael Nali and Koroba Kopiago MP and Minister for Immigration and Border Security, Petrus Thomas.

The signing will see the District make available K1 million for maintenance and rehabilitation of roads.

Minister Thomas said for more than 43 years, access roads in the district have been in a very bad state.

The equipment, by the Government of Japan, through its Japanese International Cooperation System (JICS), will be used to clear road access during natural disasters such as floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions.

At a ceremony at Lae’s Department of Works National Rebuilt Centre, Japanese Ambassador Satoshi Nakajima handed the 15 pieces of construction equipment to Works Minister Michael Nali and Minister for Planning, Richard Maru.

Nali thanked the Japanese Government for its continued generosity.

The two Australian-funded workshops coincided with the fourth UN Global Road Safety Week recently and brought together key partners in order to promote improved road safety. 

The World Health Organisation estimates that over 1,000 lives are lost on PNG’s roads each year. This tragic loss of life has a long lasting economic and human cost. The workshops focused on how to make roads safer for all road users, including promoting more responsible road use and reducing speeds.