by Bethanie Harriman – EM TV News, Lae
The Western Highlands District Development Authority has transported seven earth moving machines from Lae to continue road maintenance in the district.
For the last two years, the Mul-Baiyer District Development Authority has spent over eight million Kina, opening up roads that were previously inaccessible.
The excavator machines have cost the district over three million kina, over the last two years.
The first of the seven excavators were loaded onto a highway truck and transported up to the Mul-Baiyer district on the 5th of August.
After two years of work carried out by machinery bought at the same dealer, the Mul-Baiyer Development District Authority is replacing the old ones.
The new excavators have been bought with the same terms and conditions, that include field service.
UMW Operations Manager, Mike Treacy, said the company is negotiating for its field specialists to go up to the district to be on standby to fix the machines.
“Hopefully, we have done by next week and those people will be up there at the end of the month or early next month,” says Treacy.
Two machines were funded by the provincial government while five others were bought by the district a total over three million kina spent.
It comes as the Western Highlands District continues to open up its road networks that include two highways to Madang and Enga Province.
Speaking on Behalf of the Mul-Baiyer DDA, Executive Officer, Douglas Kilipi, said that ten machines are already working.
“The new ones will go do the job as places where people haven’t seen vehicles are now seeing vehicles drive to them,” says Kilipi.
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