BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ordered the City Engineering Office to immediately conduct an inventory of all infrastructure projects being implemented by the local government and the district and regional offices of the Department of Public works and Highways (DPWH) to guarantee their compliance to basic rules and regulations in the implementation of publicly funded projects.
The local chief executive expressed disappointment over reports from residents that aside from the snailpaced implementation of major infrastructure projects, contractors have failed to install the necessary project billboards informing the public about the projects being implemented in their places.
“We have to compel our contractors to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations prescribed in their contracts to implement their awarded projects. We cannot understand why contractors dig up their project sites and then leave the areas unattended for a long time even if they witness the inconveniences caused by the dug up areas to the motoring and commuting public,” Domogan stressed.
He also directed the City Engineer to make a report on who are the contractors of abandoned project sites and those who refuse to install the appropriate billboards so that the local government will institute the appropriate measures against the erring contractors that could eventually lead to their being blacklisted as project implementors to teach them a lesson not to belittle the concerned government agencies and the city in the implementation of their awarded projects.
According to him, the installation of project billboards containing the name of project, project duration, project cost, the contractor among others is one of the major requirements that contractors must put in place in their project sites to inform the public on the project being implemented in their places.
He said the inventory to be conducted will include even the projects being implemented by the district and regional offices of the DPWH so that the said offices will be provided with a copy of the report for them to know those erring contractors who refuse to comply with the basic requirements in the implementation of their warded projects and it will now be up to DPWH officials to institute the necessary penalties against hard headed contractors who are only interested on the income that they will derive from their projects and not for the convenience of the public.
He criticized some public works contractors who are now implementing various infrastructure projects in the different parts of the city for their alleged poor performance in the implementation of their awarded projects as they are simply taking their time in completing their works even if they are seeing that the motoring and commuting public are suffering from the unattended diggings in the barangays where the projects are being done.
He also encouraged barangay officials to impose their powers over the erring contractors and impose the installation of the necessary billboards in their project sites to serve as information to the public on what kind of contractor is doing the works in their areas. /By Dexter A. See
