Subdivision roads are substandard: Councillor

Councillor Matthew Ryan shows some of the numerous potholes affecting road in the new subdivision in Maningrida. In some parts the whole road surface has washed away.

CONCERNS are being raised about poor quality roads rolled out as part of a Northern Territory Government subdivision in Maningrida. Elected member of West Arnhem Regional Council’s Maningrida Ward, Councillor Matthew Ryan, says the new roads are simply not up to scratch.

“They began falling apart almost as soon as they were laid,” Cr Ryan told The Wire.

The surface of the road has been washed away in many places, and water running alongside the road is undermining the bitumen seal. 

“The kerbs only run along one side of the roads, and there is a lack of drainage," he said. “Without drains, water just flows through here like a river in the Wet.”

Cr Ryan said one Maningrida resident living in the subdivision had water “six inches deep” running through his house.

The roads are part of a new subdivision built in Maningrida under the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program. The program is part of the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing between the Australian and Northern Territory governments, which aims to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage across the Territory.

“Roads like this would not be acceptable in a new housing division in Darwin,” Cr Ryan said. “Because we live in a remote community here in Maningrida the government thinks it can get away with it.”

 The lack of any drainage means rainwater is undermining the bitumen seal along road edges.