LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government is hopeful the construction of the multi-million Pines Park bridge funded by the public works department will be completed by October to put an end to the accessibility woes of the thousands of affected residents living across the Balili River.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda claimed that while the contractor and the public works department committed that the construction of the bridge will be completed by October, local officials and the affected residents are doubtful on the ability of the project implementer to comply with its obligation to ensure that the bridge will be ready for use on said deadline.
He said it has been observed over the past several weeks that no personnel of the contractor had been working on the bridge project because the frame of the said bridge is still being fabricated outside the municipality.
The municipal chief executive added that concerned government agencies like the public works department and the municipal government had been doing their part in trying to locate for alternative routes to ease the burden of residents across the Balili River in having to go around barangay Balili just to be able to go to and from their houses in barangay Lubas and Pines Park.
According to him, the proposed footbridge linking Pines Park and the Halsema highway passing through a private property might be realized soonest or it might be overtaken by events because the matter still needs to be approved by the corporation that owns the said property and that the members are having a difficult time convening themselves.
Mayor Salda urged residents to be patient and understanding about the situation because concerned stakeholders had already exhausted available remedies to address the situation but what remains is the completion of the bridge will be the ultimate solution to their accessibility issues.
At present, residents of barangay Balili, particularly Pines Park and Lubas, have to use the temporary access road constructed by the municipal government and public works department in sitio Tebteb that takes them long to be able to go to their desired destinations and go back to their houses.
Earlier, Rep. Eric Yap earmarked some P80 million from the annual budget of the public works department to construct the new Pines Park bridge after this was heavily damaged by the various weather disturbances that struck the province over the past several years.
Mayor Salda stipulated there is a need for the contractor to push the fabrication of the steel frame of the bridge so that this can be immediately installed to make the facility available to the public the soonest considering that the people across the Balili River had already suffered too much in the absence of the said bridge.
The mayor underscored that the public works department should also make sure that the contractor is right on time in the implementation of the bridge project and that it must have been done pursuant to project specifications and standards to avoid the occurrence of untoward incidents that may compromise the overall safety of users.
For the local government, he asserted that the municipality will continue to monitor the progress of the project and will make the needed reminders once there will be unnecessary delays in the completion of the long-awaited bridge.