Department of Works Papua New Guinea

The Department of Works (DOW) is the Papua New Guinea Government’s implementing agency for infrastructure in the country. It is the biggest and one of the oldest government organizations in the country starting as the Office of Works and Supply during the pre-independence era. Being the biggest is due to the fact that it is the only department in the government that can boast having an office in every province in the country all linked together through the wide area network. DOW is responsible for maintaining approximately a total of 8,738.46 kms of roads throughout the country. This figure stands as of 2007. Of this total, 5,755.20km are graveled, 2,779.48km are sealed and the remaining 523.35km are inaccessible due to factors such as weather conditions etc. The current transport infrastructure priorities are found in the Medium Term Development Strategy (MTDS) and the National Transport Development (NTDS) plan.