THIRD HIGHWAYS

closed

The main objective of the Third Highway Project is to support the economic and social development of the Central Highlands of PNG by providing low cost road transport among the provinces of the Central Highlands and between each province and the Port of Lae. Additional objectives are to train local engineers and contractors, improve road maintenance, and support improved planning and preparation of rural transport projects. The project consists of: (a) improvement of paving of the Highlands Highway section between Kassam Pass and Daulo Pass (137 km), including supervision of the work by consultants, technical assistance to DWS in contract management and training of PNG engineers on the works; (b) improvement of road maintenance, including technical assistance and training of DWS and provincial governments staff by consultants; (c) improvement of rural transport, including technical assistance and engineering of priority road projects; (d) engineering of the Togoba - Wapenamanda road; and (e) procurement of traffic counting equipment. The main risk would be a failure to achieve the wide distribution of project benefits; the proposed project includes measures to minimize this risk.