A section of road from Afega to Malua was overlaid with fresh asphalt earlier this week as an important section of the broader West Coast Road upgrade project reached an important milestone.

Ott Construction won praise from the Land Transport Authority (L.T.A.) Chief for their quick work on both the resurfacing works and their work on widening a passage from Afega to Leauva’a. 

Apart from Faleula, asphalt has been laid from Saina to Malua which is also part of works contracted to Ott Construction. 

L.T.A. Chief Executive Officer, Galumalemana Titi Tutuvanu-Schwalger, thanked Ott Construction for the early progress but said that there is still work to be done.

"We do acknowledge and appreciate the quick works by Ott [Construction] but at the same time we still have yet to reach the full 100 per cent completion of work," she said in an interview with the Samoa Observer.

Galumalemana confirmed that all work on sections of the West Coast Road is expected to be completed before the year ends.

The total West Coast Road upgrade project extends from Saina to Malua and is now forecast to be complete by year's end. 

The Faleula to Puipa’a section of the road is yet to be resurfaced as works are still continuing, said Galuemalemana.

That section of the work is being overseen by a consortium of companies including the Silva Transport, Ulia Construction and T.N. Toleafoa. 

They went into a joint venture following a request from Government to lower requirements from World Bank to allow other companies to benefit from the multi-billion tala project. 

That section of the West Coast road upgrade was recently forecast to be complete by the end of September, following delays including those reportedly related to state of emergency restrictions and labour shortages.