LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The district engineer of the Department of Public works and Highways – First Benguet District Engineering Office (DPWH-FBDEO) reported that the agency was able to achieve a 96 percent accomplishment for projects that were funded under its regular infrastructure program last year.
DPWH-FBDEO District Engineer Ireneo S. Gallato claimed that only 11 of the 76 infrastructure projects are still being implemented by the contractors who won the bid for the projects but the same are programmed to be completed the soonest considering that all of the uncompleted projects have a recorded accomplishment of over 90 percent.
“The implementation of our major infrastructure projects is currently affected by the scarcity in the supply of cement that is why we requested our contractors to present their strategies on how to complete their warded projects pursuant to the schedules provided in their contracts for our evaluation and validation,” Gallato stressed.
The district engineer pointed out contractors should have the appropriate strategies on how to cope with the present situation in terms of the scarcity of cement supply so that there will be no unnecessary delays in the prosecution of their projects that will lessen the inconvenience of the public when traversing the different project sites.
Aside from road and bridge projects funded under the agency’s regular infrastructure program, other projects being implemented and monitored by the agency include farm to market roads under the agriculture department, local infrastructure projects under the initiative of lawmakers, schoolbuilding projects under the education department and the convergence projects of the trade and industry and tourism departments situated in the different parts of La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Bokod and Kabayan.
Gallato explained the need for contractors to be proactive and not reactive so that they will be able to complete their awarded projects either on or before the scheduled completion date in their contracts with the agency.
The DPWH-FBDEO covers over 270 kilometers of national roads that are located in the different parts of the five towns within the agency’s jurisdiction thereby making it a first-class district engineering office.
Gallato appealed to the public for utmost understanding on the inconveniences being caused by the ongoing implementation of programmed projects because such inconveniences are temporary in nature but after the completion of the projects, then people will experience the convenience of having to freely travel along the completed projects.
He underscored that the agency will be strict in the monitoring of the compliance of the contractors to the timetable of their projects as stipulated in their contracts to avoid being imposed whatever legitimate penalties that will affect their performance in the prosecution of their warded projects.
One of the measures adopted by the agency in the monitoring of projects is to ensure that no contractors will pour the concrete mix on the project areas without the issuance of a pouring permit to ensure that the base preparations among other technical aspects shall have been complied by the contractor before pouring the concrete mix.
By HENT
