15 May 2014
Completion of major roads project means reduced travel time for Bougainville residents
Travelling times on the Autonomous Region of Bougainville’s (ARB) national priority road have been reduced after the completion of the second major resealing project in two years.
The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), with the support of the Australian Government, has finished resealing 14.4 kilometres of road between Morgan Junction and Arakawau. This follows the resealing of the Arawa to Tunuru road in 2012.
The combined works should reduce travel times for the 179km journey between Arawa and Kokopau to three hours.
Minister, Development Cooperation, at the Australian High Commission Stuart Schaefer said Australia supports the maintenance and rehabilitation of more than 2000km of major roads in PNG each year.
“With over 85 per cent of PNG’s population living in rural and remote areas, better roads and highways support economic growth and development, through giving people a means to take their goods to market to earn an income,” Mr Schaefer said.
“Working in partnership with the Department of Works, we focus our support on the maintenance and rehabilitation of sections of the 16 national priority roads. These roads form the backbone of PNG’s road network through which the majority of goods and services are delivered.”
Australia has helped to maintain 179 kilometres of national priority road and 246 kilometres of other roads in the ARB.
The Morgan Junction to Arakawau resealing project generated employment including preparatory works, drain clearing, vegetation control, repairing and restoring roadside furniture, and traffic control.
Community Work Agreements were negotiated to ensure that Bougainville residents were able to benefit from employment on the minor works necessary to complement the major maintenance activity.
The specialised nature of resealing works required plant and equipment to be transported to the ARB and shipment of sealing chips and bitumen materials from Lae and Rabaul.
The Australian Government contributed PGK8.9 million for the project through the Papua New Guinea - Australia Transport Sector Support Program (TSSP).
The TSSP assists with direct funding assistance for road maintenance, building the PNG Government’s capacity to manage and deliver transport infrastructure, and support to ensure that maritime and aviation transport systems are safe and secure.