Works Minister Michael Nali has clarified on the specification of different road networks within the country and has also pointed out the different government authorities that are responsible for their maintenance.
Minister Nali clarified on these following a question by Rabaul MP Dr Allan Marat if there is a document available that captures the different road networks in the country and their categories.
“Is there in existence, some kinds of publications or books where roads in each province are laid out and is described as either national roads, provincial roads or district roads?” Dr Marat asked.
“Because it seems that what were once national roads are now becoming provincial roads, what were once provincial roads are now becoming district roads and some of us districts are struggling to fix our roads at the moment.”
Minister Nali in response said there is no document available that shows the variation however he went on to explain the specification.
“The roads are identified in this manner; a district road is a road that connects a Local Level Government to another Local Level Government within a district while a provincial road is identified as a road that links a district to another,” Mr Nali said.
He said it has been the Department of Works’ responsibility over the years to carry out maintenance on all the roads in the country however in recent years, some responsibilities, especially to maintain district roads were distributed along with its fundings to the custody of the District Authorities.
“Within the provincial roads itself, there are some important economic road networks and the Department of Works at this stage is responsible only for the regional highways that are captured in the Connect PNG program.”
“Dr Marat has pointed out an important issue also because in due time, we will see our districts and provincial roads faced with a lot of issues because of the responsibility being given to the district and provincial authorities.”
“You will notice that we have not been able to get enough funding for all the district roads although there is some funding made available over the last couple of years, with a minimum of K5 million and maximum of K8 million.”
“As long as the government can make funding available to all districts and provinces and also if the respective leaders can take fully the responsibility to maintain these roads, this issue can be managed,” Mr Nali said.