BAGUIO CITY – The city council summoned officials of the regional and district offices of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to appear before the regular session of the local legislative body on July 25, 2016 to shed light on the failure of the contractors of the agency to complete the citywide diggings that cause inconvenience to both the motoring and commuting public.
The city councilors invited concerned DPWH officials to explain why the simultaneous diggings around the central business district have not been completed, and the questionable planning of the infrastructure projects in the city’s central business district area.
Earlier, concerned DPWH-CAR and DPWH-BCDEO officials committed to the previous members of the city council that most of the planned drainage projects the central business district will be completed supposedly by this Julybut it is obvious the promised date cannot be realized and this is causing serious traffic congestions that have earned the ire of the motorists.
The council questioned the inability of the contractors and the concerned DPWH offices to make sure that appropriate traffic signages and flagmen will be deployed in the different project sites as contract signed by contractors prior to the implementation of their projects include allocations for traffic management and safety.
However, it was observed not only by city officials but also the motoring and commuting public that almost all the projects being implemented citywide lack the appropriate early warning signages and the flagmen to guide motorists in maneuvering in the said areas where the diggings are being done.
The council claimed DPWH-CAR and DPWH-BCDEO officials have numerous issues to address mainly on the lackluster performance of their contractors in the prosecution of their awarded projects which is now causing undue daily stress among uproar among residents and motorists.
Councilor Roberto Ortega, chairman of the city council on human rights, justice, public protection and safety and peace and order, accused the contractors and DPWH-CAR and DPWH-BCDEO officials of being insensitive to the plight of ordinary citizens for failing to put up the the appropriate safety measures like traffic signages and assignment of sufficient flagmen, among other interventions,in their project sites in order to reduce the monstrous traffic jams around the central business district area resulting to delays in residents arriving at their schools, workplaces and businesses.
Ortega claimed it has been over a year since the council had first raised the issue of the two missing safety measures within project sites but it seems such major concern of the local government has fallen on deaf ears, and the project areas are now also accident-prone which should have been avoided if the DPWH-CAR and DPWH-BCDEO officials did their job of monitoring the compliance of their contractors to the stringent rules in the implementation of projects./By Dexter A. See
