BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-CAR) assured the public of the readiness of the regional and district offices to immediately respond to whatever effects of the projected heavy rains that will be brought by the La Niña phenomenon leading to the closure of roads and impact to the major infrastructures to ensure safety and convenience of motorists.
DPWH-CAR assistant regional director Engr. Emmanuel Diaz said that there are alert levels that had already been put in place in the agency that guarantees the pre-positioning of personnel and available units of equipment near critical road sections to ensure timely response activities when the need arises.
He pointed out that the agency invested in the procurement of the needed equipment under its refleeting program to make sure that there will be readily available units of heavy equipment that will be pre-positioned in identified critical road sections for timely response when there are incidents that will happen needing the services of such equipment to clear the landslides.
The DPWH-CAR official claimed that the department decided to push through with the refleeting program after the alleged failure of the maintenance by contract in the past that paved the way for the eventual availability of units of equipment under the disposal of the regional and district offices to clear the major roads from obstructions due to landslides during the onslaught of heavy downpour.
Earlier, concerned motorists and residents living along major national roads in the different parts of the region commended the DPWH for the agency’s timely response in clearing the landslides that caused the closure of some roadlines in at the height of Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon that prevailed in most parts of Luzon, including the National Capital Region, last month.
“We are strictly adhering to some established alert levels that is why we are able to immediately pre-position our available equipment in identified critical road sections even prior to the wrath of the weather disturbance for smoother response in case there will be untimely closure of roads due to landslides,” Diaz stressed.
He expressed the agency’s gratitude to the public for providing the department with vital information on the occurrence of landslides in their respective places through the social media so that the nearest district office will be able to respond and clear the obstructions on the major roadlines to guarantee the smooth transport of people and goods to their intended destinations.
He pointed out that the agency still welcomes the active participation of responsible contractors who are willing to extend whatever assistance, especially in allowing the use of their units of equipment, to clear the landslides that impede the smooth flow of traffic inside and outside the region because the agency cannot do it alone.
Diaz asserted that the ‘bayanihan spirt’ among people is still very much alive in the Cordillera as shown in the recent onslaught of Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon where the agency and concerned contractors shared their units of equipment just to make sure that major roads leading to the different parts of the region will be immediately opened for the sake of the motorists and stable supply of goods in the communities. By Dexter A. See
