Market vendors from the Labuta LLG in Morobe’s Nawaeb District have raised concerns about the difficulty they faced when trying to transport their produce into Lae.
They have to walk for hours, crossing fast-flowing rivers to get to ‘wara market’ bus stop in the hope to board a PMV to Lae.
Kassi Samuel a vendor from Busom Tale said she have been doing this for years now.
“It’s quite a distance from Busom Tale,” says Kassi.
“It’s really hard when the rivers flood their banks making it difficult for us to cross.”
They sometimes, sought help from youths to help carry the heavy loads across the rivers but it always come with a fee.
PMVs have also limited their services into the area due to bad road conditions.
Kassi says PMVs would sometimes overlook vendors to avoid overloading that may result in damages to the vehicle.
A frustrated Kassi told EMTV news that they sometimes wait for hours to board a PMV.
The vendors resort to selling their produce in the black market instead to avoid spending more money on transporting their produce into Lae.
The road conditions in the area has worsen over the years and locals are forced to walk distance to access basic services such as transportation, school and health services.
Meanwhile, the Nawaeb District Development Authority has announced a K5 Million funding for the Poam to Bukawa road which is within the Labuta LLG.
K2.5 Million will be used on road works while the other K2.5 Million will be used to maintain the Busu bridge.
This funding is yet to be release as it still with the Morobe Provincial Procurement Commission.
