The road network of Papua New Guinea includes 8,258 km of national classified roads and another 19,937 km of lesser-trafficked but equally important provincial roads. The value of the national road network is more than 5 billion Kina (US$1 billion). Maintaining this significant asset places a great responsibility on the government and the Department of Works (DOW). Sadly, insufficient attention has been given to maintaining the road network. There is no doubt that poorly maintained roads have a significant adverse effect on national economic growth, with an adverse effect on gross domestic product. In a developing country such as Papua New Guinea, there is always a need to provide a basic level of access to all areas of the country to be able to provide basic services for all the population (access to markets, administrative, health, education). A poorly maintained road network limits access and deprives rural populations of basic services. Therefore, DOW, with funds and guidance provided by the Asian Development Bank, has, with the assistance of a Finnroad consultant, developed a road asset management system (RAMS). RAMS is a tool for storing and presenting road data information, planning short-and long-term road maintenance, creating budgets, and maximizing economic returns of investments made for the road network. The government of Papua New Guinea has also established requirements for institutional reform and strengthening under its public sector reform program. Furthermore, responding to community and other stakeholder pressure, the government has committed itself to launching a road sector reform program.
REVIEW: West Papua’s highway of blood and betrayal
