Latest update January 20th, 2025 4:00 AM
Three-hour journey now takes 30 minutes
-key access road linking Port Kaituma, Matthews Ridge rehabilitated
For years, because of their remote locations, and the because of the lack of resources,
The road between Port Kaituma and Matthews Ridge, Region One, before it was rehabilitated.
numerous hinterland communities have been battling poor infrastructure.
With little information coming out from the areas also, the quality of monitoring of state contracts has also been sadly lacking. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent annually on the upkeep of key roads and bridges.
Two areas especially that have been crying out for attention are Port Kaituma and Matthews Ridge, in Region One.
Port Kaituma, with over 3,000 residents, is a key waterfront area that is frequented by gold miners. It is where one of the government ferries would call on ever so frequently and, where once, plans were in the making to develop the area into a port.
Matthews Ridge was once a vibrant manganese mining area before the operators left. Today, Chinese-owned Bosai is preparing to restart operations.
The poor road conditions have been lending to hours of traffic time between communities.
However, major improvements are impacting the lives of residents of those two Region One communities.
There had been talks to build a railroad between the two areas to move bauxite and other supplies.
Earlier this year, Government announced a major project – $334M – for the rehabilitation of the main access roads between Port Kaituma and Matthews Ridge. The project was awarded to International Imports and Supplies.
The rehabilitated roads have reduced travel time from over three hours to 30 minutes.
At the same time, another project, for the rehabilitation of the roads between Port Kaituma airstrip and the Fitzburg Housing Scheme, was awarded to KP Thomas and Sons for $213M.
The Port Kaituma to Matthews Ridge road is more than 90 percent completed with the handing over expected this month, in a matter of days. It is a major happening for two communities that have been largely ignored.
While the airport road phase is way behind with KP Thomas, plans are already underway to improve the linkage between the Matthews Ridge area, which has about 2,000 residents, to Baramita.
In a recent interview with state media, Hinterland Engineer at the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Jeffrey Walcott, disclosed that the works in Port Kaituma are being conducted in phases and the next scheduled stage – which will commence in 2018 – will see the continuation from Matthews Ridge to Baramita.
“So there would be entire improvement in the community.”
For the critical 34km road from Port Kaituma to Matthews Ridge, laterite is being used to create a cap of about eight to 10 inches.
Project Foreman, Eddy Suwarno, explained that prior to road works, in cases of emergency, government officials were forced to travel by plane from Port Kaituma to Matthews Ridge, because of road conditions.
Getting equipment and mobilizing to the work site has also been a major challenge for the contractor.
Village Leader for the Falls Top community where the road passes through, Emanuel Henry, said that the works have been long awaited.
“The road was terrible since Barama left the area. When we leave from Falls Top to Port Kaituma it took three to four hours, but now we taking like 25 to 30 minutes; plus, the cost for transportation has even reduced, so we feel a real ease that the road was done and the contractors have done an excellent job.”
Businessman, Latchmin Narayan, has also pointed to improvements in business because of the road. “Before time we use to walk through mud, but we voted for this and this is what we’re looking for our children and grandchildren.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry is also rehabilitating roads within Port Kaituma in Region One.
Walcott explained: “The distinction between the roads within the community and major corridor is that we’re looking at rigid pavement for the airstrip to Port Kaituma, but within the community we’re trying to maintain the all-weather roads, so basically it’s an unpaved surface.”
The engineer is imploring residents to practice responsible use of the roads, to protect them and monitor the weight limits of vehicles traversing them.
“We’re looking at the long-term vision for Port Kaituma, the community which has been neglected for way too long. As part of our plans to develop hinterland regions, we are investing over $700M and we plan on investing a lot more so that persons understand that they are part of the nationwide development plan, and our goal is to bridge the gap.”
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