BONTOC, Mountain Province – Gov. Bonfiacio Lacwasan, Jr. said the provincial government earmarked some P15 million in the province’s annual budget this year primarily for the facelift of the plaza in this capital town and the establishment of underground parking in the same area.
Lacwasan said P5 million will be set aside for the facelift and beautification of the Bontoc plaza while the P10 million will be used for the construction of the underground parking in the area to provide parking spaces not only for residents but also for visitors.
“We assure the people of Mountain Province that the Bontoc plaza will remain as a plaza where people can freely converge but the addition will be the availability of parking spaces underneath the plaza to maximize the use of the available spaces and reduce the use of roads as parking slots that constrict the smooth flow of traffic,” Lacwasan stressed.
He said the facelift of the plaza is long overdue but the provincial government had to put an added value to the project by incorporating underground parking to address the frequent complaints from the public in the absence of sufficient parking spaces in the capital town.
According to him, the inclusion of the project in the province’s Annual Investment Plan this year is in response to the clamour from various sectors for the local government to facilitate the establishment of parking areas around the town and the best place that was identified by the technical people was underneath the plaza.
He explained the construction of an underground parking area in the plaza was evaluated and assessed by the technical people of the province with support from the private sector and that it will be part of the overall solution in addressing parking space problems in the capital town.
He said the project will be bidded out by the provincial government once the regional office of the budget department shall have passed upon and reviewed the province’s annual budget amounting to more than P722 million approved by the provincial board late last year.
Lacwasan appealed to various sectors not only in the capital town but also in the other municipalities to support the planned underground parking area because it will provide motorists with parking spaces and help decongest national and local roads currently being used as parking areas of motorists without parking slots in their residences.
Under existing rules and regulations, the annual budget of local governments will still be reviewed by the regional offices of the budget department prior to implementation of the identified priority projects under the concerned local government\s investment plan.
By HENT