USP Students Association helps Green Hill community

Service to the community program of the University of the South Pacific Students Association (USPSA) of Emalus, Port Vila campus will greatly assist the community of Green Hill opposite La Smet, Tagabe in Port Vila.

About 20 students of the association took part in a working bee Friday over three hours to bury and compact the worst section of the road that leads up the hill to the community assisted by youths from the area.

President of the association John Harold says the students decided to carry out this work as part of their service of the community, especially to help families with pregnant mothers. He says the section of the road is so bad that one mother recently lost her baby that died at birth due to the rough ride down the hill to get to the hospital. One other mother’s baby even though alive, was delivered while the vehicle she was in was bumping dangerously down the very rough stretch of the road, he adds.

USPSA President Harold says gravel used to bury the road was sponsored by Member of Parliament for Port Vila Ralph Regenvanu and another local sponsor, Vanuatu Excavators used their dump truck to transport the gravel from Parliament House construction site to Green Hill. And the association is exceedingly thankful to the MP and the other sponsors that assisted with the service.

Daily Post visited the students as they were working and saw how rough the section of the road was judging by the way buses were maneuvering dangerously down the hill. After three hours of work, the really rough section was filled in and compacted, all using manpower, which the students had plenty of.

Now the community can have much more comfortable rides to the community and down the hill to the main road. Well, at least until the next big rain, because it is obvious the whole gravel will likely end up on the main road or down Tagabe River in heavy downpours, due to lack of proper drainage.

Hopefully, a sponsor or two can help the community put a concrete layer on the road to provide a longer lasting surface.