Road rebuilding to cost $1 million per kilometre

The Cook Islands may call upon the Chinese again to assist with the upgrade of roads around Rarotonga except this time it will be for much more.
About $40 million is required to rebuild the roads around Rarotonga, and according to the DPM Sir Terepai Maoate, China is the only country willing to loan the Cook Islands large sums of money either as a grant, or at concessional rates.
The DPM in a press release this week said that this is why it is important that we have a good relationship with China.
He was referring to one of his reasons to proceed with the signing of the Chinese $13 million loan for the multi-sports complex and the Ministry of Education building.
If the Cook Islands had withdrawn from the loan, the Chinese Government could well be reluctant to be a development partner for future projects or financial assistance.
The Ministry of Works have obtained quotes from various road construction companies such as V&B who built the Aitutaki Airport, the Fiji Ministry of Works, and the Chinese, all of whom have quoted the road reconstruction at $1 million+ per kilometre.
According to Works, the reconstruction will involve digging and excavating the existing road to a depth of about 1 foot to 1 metre, compacting, realigning the power, telephone and water, and constructing the surface.
From the point of view of the Road Safety Council, an improvement to our roads is definitely needed.
But for the Chamber of Commerce the concerns that they raised with regards to the multi-sports complex loan still apply – that is, whether the money is put back into the local economy, and whether it is a priority. They understand that with any dealings with the Chinese there is room to negotiate well, and they would like future Government approaches to exercise that fact.

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