LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Municipal and barangay officials and affected residents could not help but keep their fingers crossed for the possible completion of the multi-million Pines Park bridge by December so that people can conveniently go in and out of barangay Lubas and parts of Balili during the Yuletide season.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda claimed that the commitment of the contractor and the public works department that the construction of the bridge will be completed soonest will remain a promise because the prevailing situation in the construction site is different from what is being reported by the concerned government agency.
He pointed out that the problem of the sub-contractor and the contractor of the multi-million bridge project is the inadequate manpower being assigned to work on the remaining unfinished works on the bridge causing serious delays that cause inconveniences among the people living in the affected areas.
The local chief executive claimed that the contractor and the public works department committed that the bridge project will be completed by October 29, 2023 but this was not realized for whatever reasons which has caused serious inconveniences among the residents using the bridge to go to and from their residences in barangay Lubas and some parts of Balili, particularly in Pines Park.
According to him, people are fully aware of the situation at the project site and there is no way the contractor and the public works department can justify the unduly delayed non-completion of the bridge before the end of October.
The public works department earmarked some P80 million from their agency’s annual budget this year to replace the wooden Pines Park bridge damaged by previous natural disasters to a more sturdy structure to prevent the isolation of residents living across the Balili River from the main road.
Salda urged the contractor and public works department to immediately implement the needed catch-up plan to ensue the completion of the bridge project soonest because the affected residents have suffered so much patiently going around the alternate route for them to go to their desired destinations.
According to him, the municipal government already made the appropriate representations with the concerned government agency and the contractor but appeals have fallen on deaf ears as indicated by the continued delay in the completion of the bridge.
The Pines Park bridge connects the Halsema highway to portions of barangay Balili, particularly Pines Park and barangay Lubas, where thousands of residents continue to be affected by the failure of the contractor to complete the said project.
