As the country prepares to celebrate 41 years of independence, basic economic infrastructure continues to deteriorate in some parts of the country.
Road access for the people of Lufa district in the Eastern Highlands is deteriorating.
Sections of the road become impassable when it rains.
During a recent visit, EMTV News saw first-hand the state of the road, and the troubles people go through to travel.
The road into Lufa district turns off the main Highlands highway as you travel south from Eastern Highlands Capital, Goroka.
While parts of the road are sealed, over the years the lack of attention on the road is showing.
As we were travelling into the district, a section of the road at Warabrata in Oliguti, was barely passable when it was dry. More than half of the road has collapsed, and people have tried to build it up using logs to support the soil.
Upon our return two days later, we came upon a large number of men working on that same section of the road.
The makeshift construction has collapsed again, after heavy rain.
With the “fixing” of the road, they demand payment from people who drive through.
Along the Lufa road, it has become a norm for locals to patch sections that have deteriorated, and ask road users, especially drivers to pay.
With a high production of coffee this season, the road condition is not helping matters as they, and other producers, struggle to catch a ride into town to sell their produce.
Lufa is also home to a home grown conservation site, where 20 square kilometers of virgin forest is conserved by the people of Hogave.
The conservation area is slowing gaining popularity as scientists from within PNG and abroad travel to the site for research and other work.
Due to the condition of the road, most times, travelers bound for Hogave Conservation Centre have had to disembark from their vehicles and walk to the Centre, even though the Centre is only metres away from the main road.
As a trunk road, the Lufa road is largely the responsibility of the provincial government, however to date there has been no real indication of work to rehabilitate the road.
