By Quinton Alomp – EM TV News, Port Moresby
The Manus Provincial Government is uncertain whether Australia will continue to fund the completion of the Momote to Lorengau road.
The road starts from the Momote Airport into Lorengau town.
A Queensland based company, Shamrock Civil Pty Ltd, won the contract to build the road in 2014.
Provincial Administrator, Andrew Posong, is curious but is hoping that following the Supreme Court decision that ruled the detention of asylum seekers on the island was illegal, both Australia and PNG will provide a good alternative for the province.
Posong said the closure of the detention centre will affect the province in three main sectors.
“First is employment. Nearly 700 locals are working in the centre and the closure will really affect, especially the cash flow.
“Secondly, businesses will be affected. Some of the business houses have gone to the banks to get loans to expand their businesses. Some were directly contracted while others indirectly to supply demand at the processing centre.
“Now it will affect them,” The provincial administrator said.
He said the third area is existing projects, especially the redevelopment of the Momote to Lorengau road, and the construction of new police barracks “is our biggest concern.”
The Manus province is uncertain whether the closure of the asylum processing centre will result in Australia halting its funding for the completion of the existing road project.
