THE poor condition of a road intersection in Okapa, Eastern Highlands Province, is greatly affecting the lives of communities in the area.
The Awande section of the Okapa district road, leading down to South Fore and South Gimi is now a daily struggle for communities due to the poor road condition that have made this vital road link impassable.
The state of the road has largely disrupted the daily lives of the local villagers in the area, as this vital route is used for access into Goroka town to seek services and essential goods.
The road access, a few meters away from the main Awande junction, has been in bad condition for months.
Locals, students and public servants currently have found themselves stranded as the situation has reached a critical point.
Boarding secondary schools like Okapa and Ivingoi are unable to transport their food rations, fuel supplies, and materials in time, leading to disruption of classes and studies.
Head Teacher of one of the affected schools, Mr. George Konou, who teaches at Yasubi Primary School, said the public servants, especially teachers and health workers, are still out awaiting clearance of the road.
“It’s frustrating, students miss classes because we can’t get basic supplies to run the schools,” he said.
“The road situation is impacting our lives in so many negative ways. Health workers in the area are also facing major delays in accessing vital medical supplies.”
“Students, public servants, and communities are waiting for the road to get fixed, while sick patients are lying in beds waiting to be transported to seek medical attention,” said Mr. Konou.
“This road is really crucial for us and needs to be fixed.”
According to the locals, a construction company was engaged last week by the Okapa District Development Authority (ODDA), to do grading work, however, continuous heavy rains have worsened the situation, caused deep drains and muddy conditions and made it impossible for vehicles to pass through.
Meanwhile, the Awande section of Okapa has become the new bus stop for the people of South Fore as PMVs are still unable to cross over to and from due to the worsening state of the road.
Communities in the area are now appealing and urging immediate action from their local MP and the provincial government to address this issue to prevent further disruption to the already worsened state of the road.
The China W is now engaged to do maintenance and upgrading of main road connectivity from Goroka to Okapa is now Station and will venture soon into road transition. Its basic service and needs to be accomplished before the government of the day look into other areas of development.
Just recently, Okapa DDA bought Four trucks for Highschool and Secondary Schools in Okapa as if they have good roads.
Okapa MP needs to look into this and do something to help people.