BY SAMIE WAIKORI
The East Malaita road covers a total distance of 46km from Ferakui (Dala) to Atori. This does not include the Nafinua junction, which leads to Faumamanu and extends as far as Aufasu, roughly another 10km.
This is the East Malaita road, not the 21km stretch from Ferakui (Dala) to Baratalo, which is often referred to as the East Road. To clarify, that 21km section is just a part of the entire 46km East Malaita road.
A member of the East Malaita community made this explanation to set the record straight regarding the current road maintenance being conducted by the national government through the SIRAP project on the 21km section from Ferakui to Baratalo.
He pointed out that this misinformation has been circulating for some time, with the East Malaita road—commonly referred to as East Road—often being mistakenly associated with only the 21km stretch currently being rehabilitated.
“This misinformation confuses the public, especially the traveling public of East Malaita, making them assume that the entire East Road is under maintenance,” the community member said.
He also noted that the 21km section being rehabilitated lies within the West Kwara’ae constituency, and the people of East Malaita are still struggling with the remaining 25km stretch from Baratalo to Atori.
“We acknowledge the national government and the World Bank through the SIRAP program for rehabilitating the 21km road section,” he said. “But people are still facing difficulties with the 25km section from Baratalo to Atori.”
“To be frank, we are very happy to benefit from the improved 21km stretch under the SIRAP program. A lot of work has been done on that section, including routine regravelling, installation of culverts and drainage systems, and even concreting some parts of the road,” he added.
However, despite these improvements, the challenge with East Road remains significant. The other 25km stretch is in poor condition, which continues to hinder transport and the delivery of goods and services to East Malaita.
“While we appreciate the improvements to the 21km section from Ferakui to Baratalo, we are also requesting similar projects to improve the 25km section from Baratalo to Atori,” he said.
“This would complete the full improvement of the 46km East Road.”
