The Minister for the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Hon. Ricky Fuo’o, has issued an apology note to the residents of Honiara and all road users.
This was for the deteriorating condition of some key road networks across the city which was further exacerbated by the recent heavy rains and adverse weather conditions.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Minister Fuo’o acknowledged the challenges faced by the community and expressed the government’s commitment to restoring safe and functional roads as quickly as possible.
“We understand the frustration and inconvenience caused by the current state of some arterial road networks in Honiara and sincerely apologize for this.
“Our Transport Infrastructure Management Services Division (TIMSD) is putting more effort into addressing these safer roads, and I want to assure the public that fixing our roads is a top priority.”
Minister Fuo’o outlined immediate measures being taken to conduct urgent repairs and maintenance with high priority for the most critical and heavily used routes, such as the Vura-Kola loop, the Mbokonavera Skyline-Vavaya Ridge loop, Hibiscus Road, Mendana Avenue Road, Panatina-Tanakake Road, the main highways, and others.
“While budget constraints remain a reality, our team are actively working to streamline procurement processes to get road projects kicked off as soon as possible without unnecessary delays,” he stated.
“We are also working to improve our contract supervision and management,” the minister stated, adding that a meet-the-press conference will be convened next week to provide the local media with further clarification on the government’s ongoing infrastructure upgrades, including collaborative undertakings with development partners.
The Central Kwara’ae parliament representative further called on the wider Honiara community to remain patient and bear with the team awaiting the weather to clear to get all machines and crews rolling along the roads.
Looking ahead, Hon. Ricky Fuo’o reaffirmed the Government for National Unity and Transformation’s (GNUT’s) commitment to improving infrastructure resilience to withstand future weather events and to developing long-term solutions for sustainable road maintenance and expansion.
The ministry will be working closely with stakeholders and development partners to further discussions for the Greater Honiara City Master Plan, which will look into creating an alternate back road in Honiara soon.
All road infrastructure projects for both Honiara and the provinces under the development budget for this year will be announced soon.
– MID
