EXPRESS The
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Locally owned and proudly independent
Debutantes steal the show at formal debut
A SEA of black, white and a touch of blue swished across the dance floor at the Mareeba International Club during the annual Mareeba Debutante Ball. There were proud smiles as far as the eye could see as 16 young ladies were officially introduced to society on Saturday, May 21, at their formal debut in front of family, friends and the community. PHOTO BY Robert Blake
Farce and furious
By Michael Serenc
THE State Government has been forced into an embarrassing backdown on fixing a potentially fatal stretch of the Mulligan Highway. A 30km section of the highway between Mt Molloy and Mt Carbine has been left in a state of disrepair, with grass as high as two metres causing poor visibility for motorists trying to avoid hitting
wayward cattle and kangaroos on the road. Mareeba Shire Deputy Mayor Alan Pedersen said he knew of at least one vehicle which had recently been written off after an accident along the highway near Mt Carbine and blamed a lack of maintenance funding from the State Government. “There’s nothing stopping a potentially fatal crash now, particularly with small, sedan-like vehicles,” he said.
“If a beast comes out onto that road and a driver swerves, the vehicle will roll.” Council is allocated funding under the State’s Road Maintenance Performance Contract (RMPC) program to maintain several State-owned roads in the shire, but funding has been reduced by 13 per cent to $1.55 million this financial year compared to $1.78 million allocated in 2013/14. After several enquiries from The Express to the
Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), a spokeswoman said TMR had informed council it would provide funding for the highway’s grass to be slashed by the end of this week and pledged that funding under the RMPC would be “fully restored” in the 2017/18 financial year. continued Page 3
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