Gizo roads get a much-needed facelift as urgent repairs get underway

After years of bumpy drives and dodging potholes, residents and commuters in Gizo are finally seeing repairs begin on the town’s aging roads.

Urgent road rehabilitation and spot repairs commenced last week and will run for six months, covering roughly 15.47 kilometres of roads across the Western Province’s business centre.

Funded by the national government through the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID) and carried out by local contractor JED Group, the work targets the feeder roads from Gizo Primary School to Chinatown, the South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC) Road, Gizo Trunk Road, and sections of the Coastal Road.

For locals, it’s a long-overdue relief. Western Province Assembly Member and Minister of Works, Freedom Tozaka, said the administration is thankful for the national government’s funding allocation, and pledged more.

“We will continue to pursue the full rehabilitation,” he said, acknowledging the issue has been on residents’ minds for years. Communities, he noted, have warmly welcomed the repairs.

The ministry’s Transport Infrastructure Management Services Division (TIMSD), working alongside the provincial team, will oversee the works and ensure they meet minimum quality standards.

And there’s more on the horizon for Gizo. Upcoming projects include maintenance works on the Gizo Wharf, and a road sealing project being developed with the World Bank under the Community Access and Urban Services Enhancement (CAUSE II) initiative.

While budget constraints remain the ministry’s biggest hurdle, officials are committed to keeping the country’s provincial centres in good shape   underpinning the connectivity, safety and economic growth that communities depend on every day.