Photo: Scott Waide
Analysis - When Papua New Guinea's National Executive Council (NEC) handed down Decision 41/95 in the mid-1990s, it was pitched as modernisation - a shift from government-led construction to a private sector-driven model.
But three decades later, many inside the Department of Works and Highways (DOWH) say the decision helped accelerate the deterioration of the country's roads, hollowing out an institution that once kept the nation connected.
Before Decision 41/95, DOWH was not just a regulator - it was a builder.
For decades, the department operated base camps spaced every 50 kilometres along major highways. It was a model that worked.
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