by Bethanie Harriman – EM TV News, Madang
With the construction of bridges remaining unfinished, and roads continuing to crumble away at the seams, the Lae-Madang Highway is in dire need of refurbishment.
One such example of work needing to be done comes in the form of the Ono Bridge, which has still yet to be fixed despite it collapsing over six months ago. With the materials on site for work to begin, residents have been left questioning why nothing has yet to be done.
The dire state of the road is forcing vehicles to take alternative routes, particularly around the Usino to Ramu section of the highway. In this case the increased traffic further impacts on these already crumbling alternate routes, making it a catch-22 for motorists when deciding which route they should take.
It’s understood that Madang authorites helped to rebuild sections of the highway following flooding earier this year, however the people of the region have now been left with work that either remains part-way completed, or not even commenced at all.
Most residents located along the Usino-Bundi to Ramu stretch said there has to be a direct government intervention by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in order to see the action that is required to fix this section, of what is an extremely important trade route.
