By Nazario Rodriguez Jr.
Horizon news staff

With minor repairs still being done on several items in some portions, the Compact Road is projected to be fully completed by next month, according to Acting Resident Engineer Keith Mizkewich of the United States Army Corps of Engineers during a telephone interview yesterday.
Mizkewich said contractor Daewoo will turnover the entire road including the portion in Ngerikiil that had been closed due to major repair works.
Senator Alfonso Diaz has requested Daewoo recently to open the road but Project Manager Min Sok Kim told him that repairs on all three sections to include the bridge has started.
Kim told Diaz that this section of raodway will not be reopened until all repairs have been completed and inspected.
Mizkewich said that at this point, the whole project is 99 percent complete.
Upon its completion, the total cost of the project would be around $150 million. Much of the funding has been through the US-Palau Compact of Free Association, which defines political and financial relations between the two countries.
It is because of this that its moniker Compact Road originates.
The project is considered as the largest development project in Micronesia.
On Thursday last week (May 3), top government officials toured at the 53-mile road project that included President Remengesau, Senate President Surangel Whipps Sr., Senator Caleb Otto, House Speaker Antonio Bells and Chief Ibeduul Yutaka Gibbons.
A press release from the Senate Public Information Agency yesterday said Army Corps Resident Engineer and Contracting Officer Alex Morrison has informed the national leadership about the target date of completion of the entire project.
Assistant Senate PIO Obichang Ongklungel noted that the tour commenced in Ngerikiil, Airai and circled Babeldaob, stopping in Melekeok and Ngaraard to discuss various aspects of the project.
Ongklungel said that Morrison told Senate President Whipps that the majority of the work on the road is now completed and that 98 percent of the end product is "very good".
He quoted Morrison as saying that, while some failures and problems have occurred in various areas and the project has posed extraordinary challenges, he was pleased with the overall quality of the work and said that these scenarios are actually beneficial as they ensure that, once turned over, the road will be of a high caliber.
On the issue of the Ngerikiil to Ngchesar road closure, also known as ‘Shimizu’ Morrison explained that because no road had existed in that area before, Daewoo is not contractually obliged to open the road.
"Ngerikiil is not open because the Army Corps of Engineers has not yet accepted the road; until that time, it is Daewoo's right to determine whether or not the road is safe for vehicle traffic," Ongklungel quoted Morrison.
Morrison is out of the country but is expected to report to office Monday.
Ongklungel noted that Daewoo has said the Ngeriikil road may be open within the month.
"Please be patient," Morrison said to the leaders of
Palau, "please allow Daewoo to finish their job."
Having been in Palau since the start of the Compact Road project eight years ago, Morrison further commented on what an "awesome experience [it has been] to participate in the change of a nation."
Morrison also discussed the process for Palau's eventual acceptance of the Compact Road, where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will contractually accept the road before being turned over to the Republic.
However, he also stated that segments of the road have already been accepted by the U.S. and must therefore be maintained by Palau. Once segments of the road have been accepted, a one-year warranty period begins.
"We are very fortunate to have this road. "We most definitely want to thank the United States for their support," Whipps said.
Reminiscing on the leaders of Palau who had envisioned the Compact Road, the Senate President said, "if they were alive today, they would be very proud of this accomplishment."