Fix the roads, says Sir Paulias

By ELIZABETH VUVU*

Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane has called on leaders in the country to make it their priority to maintain all road networks in their respective areas. He said roads were an important tool in development and the people needed good roads in order to have access to markets. Sir Paulias, who was in East New Britain for the past six days, said there were a lot of active workers in the province but the condition of some of the roads was not very good.

“If we want to continue to increase our production in cocoa, copra, balsa and coffee, we need better roads to get to the markets,” Sir Paulias said. He gave an example of the deteriorating road leading to Sunbam in the Sinivit local level government area where the vehicle he was travelling in got bogged down yesterday and he and his entourage had to push the car out of the slush.

Helping hand … Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane (second, left) has to engage in some unusual physical activity yesterday, after the vehicle he was travelling in got bogged down on the road leading to Sunbam village in the Sinivit local level government area of East New Britain. He is pictured gamely joining his entourage in pushing the vehicle out of the slush. – Picture courtesy of GG’s Media Unit

Sir Paulias said this road used to be a good road but it now needed a reliable four-wheel drive to make it into Sunbam village. He was impressed with how the people at Sunbam maintained their cocoa blocks and said in order for these people to have access to markets, the road needed to be improved. Meanwhile, during his stay in the province, Sir Paulias visited various schools including Malabunga Secondary, Kokopo Secondary and Tauran Primary School, and gave speeches on World Environment Day.

He told students that climate change was not only affecting the environment but was affecting our livelihoods socially and economically.“If we continue to allow our trees to be cut down, there would not be many trees left to take in the pollution from developed nations.” Sir Paulias returns to Government House today.

Vuvu is the reporter of The National*

*** It's about time, politicians and those in the hierarchy involved in developmental policies should come out of their comfort zones to see and feel how ordinary folks in the villages feel each day when using some of the worst road conditions in Papua New Guinea.

If Sir Paulus Matane learns something about his recent trip to East New Britain Province, he must also know that not only East New Britain but the entire country is in dire need of a good road system for easy excess of goods and services to flow smoothly.

The good GG knows how to approach various government departments and the folks in his network of friends and should make recommendations for funding for all rural road network system in the country. The GG's picture in the front page of the newspapers is better but even much better if Somare was in the picture.

Oh, and does Don Polya (Minster for Transport and Works) have any plans in place to revive some of these roads which are built before independence? We want less politics and bullying tactics and need real development.

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