There are plans to seal the ring road on Buka island in the Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville after the national government committed to increasing funding.
The Central Agencies Co-ordination Committee, which was in Buka last week, reports that there will be a substantial lift in assistance for Bougainville in the 2006 supplementary and 2007 budgets.
The Bougainville Vice President, Joseph Watawi, says it is very important for the province, allowing it to catch up with the other provinces in the country.
He says sealing the Buka ring road will be hugely significant for farmers and truck operators.
"And it will also mean that there is less cost in the maintenance of vehicles [as is currently] experienced by vehicle owners because of the continuous breakdown of vehicles purely because of the condition of the road."
