Idle road machinery cost $700,000 [1]
Thursday, July 1, 1999 - 12:00. Updated on Thursday, January 7, 2016 - 19:13.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 14, no. 3, July 1999.
A $700,000 machine that was bought by the Government of Tonga last year for the construction of asphalt roads is sitting idle at the Ministry of Works depot in Nuku‘alofa.
The problem is because asphalt is more expensive than chip-seal, even though asphalt will last for at least 50 years, whereas the chip-seal has to be redone every two or three years.
The Minister of Works, the Hon. Cecil Cocker told the Tongan Legislative Assembly in August that the purchasing of the high quality road building equipment was initiated by the King to expedite a $100 million road and airport project that was approved by the Tongan Cabinet in 1995.
But so far their hope to use their asphalt road equipment for the construction of the Pilolevu Airport in Ha‘apai and the Lupepau‘u Airport in Vava‘u had not materialized because the jobs were tendered and were awarded to Downer of New Zealand, allowing them to use chip-seal instead of asphalt.
Then Mr. Cocker said he was still hopeful that they would be able to use their new equipment if a sum of $54.4 million could be found for the construction of asphalt roads in Tongatapu, ‘Eua, Ha‘apai and Vava‘u. This would mean an allocation of $26 million for Tongatapu, $16 million for Vava‘u, $6.2 million for Ha‘apai and $6.2 million for ‘Eua.
The money is needed for asphalt roads in Tongatapu from Nuku‘alofa to Ha‘atafu, from ‘Umutangata to Niutoua, from Malapo to Niutoua, from the airport to Fua‘amotu, then from Pea to Liahona. In ‘Eua, from the airport to ‘Ohonua. In Ha‘apai, from the airport to Pangai. In Vava‘u, from the airport to Neiafu then to Tu‘anuku, and from Neiafu to Talihau and Neiafu to Koloa.