MALAMPA needs a complete fleet of road machinery
March 26, 2026 10:44 pm | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook
By Anita Roberts.
One of the main challenges hindering the MALAMPA Public Works Department (PWD) from upgrading roads on Malekula, Ambrym, and Paama is the lack of a complete fleet of road machinery.
This was conveyed by MALAMPA PWD Manager, Fredson Hosea.
“We do not have a full fleet of machinery. The equipment we are using is old and breaks easily. It takes time to repair them when they are damaged,” he stressed.
“Concerns have been raised about poor road conditions on Malekula, but we cannot address all of them. We could improve these roads regularly if we had a full fleet of machinery.”
Mr. Hosea said hiring machinery for road repairs is very expensive.
“There is no local contractor based here in Lakatoro for us to hire machinery. It’s too costly for our budget to hire machines from Port Vila or Luganville,” he said.
“It costs around VT18,000 to VT19,000 an hour to use equipment from a private company.”
He emphasised that the department needs a full fleet of machinery to improve road access for farmers to markets, children to schools, patients to hospitals, and workers to offices and businesses.
He mentioned that one of the projects currently underway on Malekula is a 1.5-kilometre concrete pavement on slopes from PRV to Vao on the northeast coast of the island.
Funded through the Vanuatu Australia Infrastructure Development Project at a cost of over VT100 million, the works are being carried out by local contractor New Vision Construction Ltd.
Works started in December last year and are expected to be completed by June this year, though delays are likely due to adverse weather conditions.
“After this, work will also be carried out on another road section from PRV to Pinalum once the design phase is completed. The sealing of this road will be funded by the Australian Government,” said Mr. Hosea.
Regarding Paama and Ambrym, he said the department carries out improvement works each year.
