WORK on installing a new culvert at Marara along the South Road in Malaita Province has started and is expected to be completed soon.
For the past five months since floods washed away the old culvert, travelling passengers along the South Road have been forced to do transits along the road to reach their destinations.
According to locals who use the road, the damaged part of the road has forced travelling passengers to pay more as they have to use two vehicles with different fare rates to reach their homes.
For those who run canteens, they have no option but to pay double freight for their goods to reach their destination.
Since the culvert was damaged, civilians tried to do a quick fix on the damaged areas, but that did not last.
Numerous calls had been made by members of the public and transport owners alike for the responsible authority to step in to fix the deteriorated part of the road.
Just last week, the National Government through the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development (MID) allocated funding and a contractor to fix install a new culvert.
The current work on the new culvert installation was widely welcomed by travelling passengers and transport providers along the South Road and they look forward for the successful completion of the work.
By WILSON SAENI in Auki
