Roads To Interior Of N. Guinea

How New Bridge Over Markham Will be Used

From R. W. Robson

LAE, October 12.

NO visitor should fail to travel the Lae-Wau Road. The intelligent observer thus will learn much about the basic road-making and transport problems of New Guinea. The whole of the hundred miles is packed with interest.

The road is now in regular use for all heavy freight between coast and Bulolo Valley. It is no longer one-way loading (coast to goldfield); the new timber in dustry (when it comes) will provide val uable backloading. There will be more backloading when Wau achieves its am bition to become a substantial producer of vegetables and fruits.

Works and Housing men at present are maintaining this Army-built road, and doing much to straighten and strengthen it. They have camps along its entire length and larger gangs at work.

I gather that the chief headache is a section of several miles in the Snake Valley, near Mumeng (the attractive village on the cool hilltops, about half way).

The road here has been brought along the side of a steep gorge, down near the river. Storm-water run-off here is such, that no road or bridge can stand against it. Either the road must be re-routed, or they must keep there always a bull dozer outfit, to reopen the road after each heavy storm.

The main obstacle, of course, is the slow and costly punt voyage, from Labu to Milford Haven, across the mouth of the Markham. The road from Bulolo comes down through the Snake Valley, on to the south side of the Markham; and it cannot cross to the north side of the Markham, and Lae, except by punt.

From the point where the road emerges from the Snake River country, on to the Markham at Labu, where it crosses by punt, there is a stretch of 30 or 40 useless and unprofitable miles, most difficult of maintenance. Yet, on the other, or north ern. side of the Markham there is a wide and fertile valley, leading from Nadzab airstrip right down to Lae, where there is already a road.

For obvious reasons, everyone wants the new bridge over the Markham to be near Wampit, thus cutting cut the long, ex pensive and unprofitable section from the Wampit down to Labu. Works and Hous ing want it at Markham Point, more than half-way down towards Labu. The argu ment has gone on for a long time.

It is now formally and officially announced that the bridge will be at Markham Point, because of en gineering difficulties in the way of any other plan.

It is further announced, however, that —as a result of discoveries made by a new survey—a considerable sec tion of what is now the Markham Point-Snake River Road (leading on into the Bulolo) will be re-routed, apparently through the region between the Snake River and the Markham, which leads on towards the Watut Valley.

This latter section will be part of the main road eventually leading from Lae, up the Markham Valley, towards the Upper Markham and the Ramu Divide and the Highlands: and the road to the Bulolo will break off that main road somewhere in the vicinity of the Watut.

THE general plan is this; The main road to the interior will leave Lae and fellow generally, the present Lae- Nadzab road to Markham Point; there, it will cross the Markham by a new bridge; then, in this area south of the Markham, it will be re-routed abandoning certain sections of the present Lae-Bulolo road, and will be carried by a new route over into the Watut country; and there

the road will branch, one section picking up the present highway to the Bulolo, and a new section providing the new highway on towards the Highlands.

Sooner or later, there must be a road connection between the vast, newly-dis covered Highlands region, and its natural port, Lae, at the mouth of the Markham Valley. Whether they are right or wrong, the road engineers of today are trying to combine this project with that of im

proving the present Lae-Wau road, and cutting out the Labu-Lae punt crossing, at the mouth of the Markham.

Mr. Everard Judd, of the Rural Bank of New South Wales, was in Fiji in October to advise the Government on a scheme for industrial and rural credit. Mr. Judd’s brother, Mr. James Judd, was a former District Commissioner in Fiji.