The Department of Public Works says the limited annual road maintenance budget of VT400 million makes it difficult to fix roads across the country, and that priority is being given to roads in Port Vila.

Speaking in an interview with VBTC News, officials from the department explained that the VT400 million budget is shared across all provinces. Of this amount, VT52 million is allocated for Port Vila and around VT48–49 million for Luganville.

The same funding is also used to maintain airports and public buildings, which stretches the budget even further.

In previous reports, VBTC News highlighted stories from communities like Bladiniere near King Motor, where residents raised over VT200,000 to repair their road. Recently, women in the Blacksands area also took the initiative to fix local roads themselves by filling potholes.

The Department of Public Works acknowledged these efforts and thanked communities for their resilience. However, they emphasized that maintaining good, long-lasting roads requires proper planning, drainage systems, and a significantly larger budget.

They said these community roads have not been forgotten but financial limitations remain a major challenge.