BAGUIO CITY – Concerned city residents are outraged on the alleged insensitivity of the city government and the public works department in addressing the slippery tactiles installed along various sidewalks for the visually impaired persons.
In their respective comments in the social media, netizens questioned local officials for their efforts to cover-up and defend the slippery condition of the installed tactiles up to the extent of even blaming the people for stepping on the tactiles that caused them to slip on the sidewalks.
While agreeing to the intention of the tactile project which is for the visually impaired persons to guide them in maneuvering along sidewalks, netizens pointed out that the overall safety of the public should not be compromised by the slippery condition of the tactiles.
What is evident is that many individuals already slipped on the tactiles and that some of them experienced fractures that disabled them and lost their opportunities to earn income.
The netizens welcomed the decision of the public works department to suspend the implementation of the multi-million peso tactile project along sidewalks in the city although it might be too late because the contractor was already accomplished 98 percent of the said project.
The netizens claimed that it is mandatory for the city government to pay for the medical bills of the individuals who were hospitalized and underwent surgery after slipping on the tactiles aside from having to pay for their lost productive time and income.
According to them, they could not understand why city officials are very defensive when it comes to the issues being raised against the slippery tactiles despite the numerous individuals who were injured and disabled after slipping on the tactiles.
The netizens explained that the appeal for people not to step on the tactiles and the proposed installation of signages warning the public not to step on the tactiles are simply stop-gap measures which might not work in many instances and that the ultimate solution to the same is either to remove the tactiles and replace them with better materials that are not slippery.
The netizens also raised an issue on the seemingly diversionary efforts of city officials to blame the public works department on the condition of the installed tactiles when in fact, it was the city government that recommended to the implementing agency the use of the tactiles for such project for the benefit of the visually impaired persons.
The netizens suggested that the tactiles used should be replaced with non-slippery materials apart from the removal of the tactiles to prevent the incidents that might inflict injuries to the people who will slip on the tactiles.
Based on the data from the DPWH–Baguio City District Engineering Office, the sidewalk improvement project that includes the installation of the tactiles has a project cost of more than P194 million where P184 million was funded by the agency while some P10 million was provided by the local government for the said project.
The DPWH stipulated that it will be removing the slippery tactiles installed on narrow sidewalks, especially those having a width of less than 1.2 meters, and those on sloping walkways to address the issues and concerns being raised by the public on the said matter.
The netizens demanded that city officials not to deviate from the issue that many individuals already sustained injuries after having slipped on the tactiles because merely shouldering their hospitalization expenses will not actually solve the fact that the materials used are slippery that could lead to more accidents in the future if no drastic action will be taken to solve the slippery condition of the tactiles.
The netizens could not avoid to conclude that there was an alleged favored supplier and contractor for the project which might have been endorsed by the powers-that-be to undertake the project for greater profit for the same.
The clamor of the people is for the concerned government agencies and the local government to immediately find the appropriate solution to the slippery condition of the tactiles or replace the slippery ones with non-slippery tactiles that have passed the slip resistance rate.
The netizens warned city officials not to await for a worst case scenario on the tactiles before realizing that what they had been defending pose a serious threat to the overall safety of the public which is contrary to public norms and standards.
The netizens also raised doubts on the quality of work in the installation of the tactiles as they had been witnesses to how poor these had been installed that casts doubts on the supposed quality implementation of public works projects that could extend beyond their projected economic life.
By Contributed article
