MID WORKING TO ENSURE ROADS PROTECTED
Emco’s sheet pile wall nearing completion on Vara Road at the Mataniko River. Photo credit: MID.
Contractors for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development (MID) are still working hard to protect roads damaged by the 2014 Honiara flood disaster.
A statement today says MID’s contractor EMCO Pacific Solomon IslandsLimited recently completed an 110 meters long sheet pile wall on a critical road section near Vara Creek.
MID Undersecretary Technical, Jimmy Nuake says the sheet piling costs about SBD$1 million, justified by the importance of the road.
He says the Vara Creek road works indicates how the NationalTransport Fund (NTF) is ‘Building Back Better’ to avoid repeated problems in the future.
The project is one among hundred contracts funded by NTF this year to improve transport infrastructure across the country.
Meanwhile, slow negotiations with landowners have delayed the implementation of the Kukum Highway Road Rehabilitation project.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development (MID), Moses Virivolomo told SIBC News this has delayed the road works to proceed.
In an email to SIBC News today Mr. Virivolomo said a Memorandum OfUnderstanding (MOU) with landowners will be completed by the end of this month.
He says the MOU is an obligation of the National Government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to ensure there is progress on their side before putting the project out on a tender.
However, the Permanent Secretary said he is quite hopeful tenders will be ready by next month.