LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The contractor of the P1.7 billion rehabilitation of the Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya road told local officials he would correct alleged defects in the implementation of the project especially along the Benguet side. Rep. Samuel Dangwa bared this saying he initially met with the project manager of the Cavite Development Corp., the contractor of the foreign-assisted project to discuss concerns he raised over the defective project.
Dangwa said the contractor assured him the defects he raised could be corrected within a certain period of time, thus, frequent monitoring must be conducted to see their compliance with their promise.
Earlier, Dangwa branded the newly-rehabilitated road, particularly the Benguet section of the highway, as a first-class farm to market road since it could not accommodate two-lane traffic for trucks and buses.
The lawmaker said the highway in the Nueva Vizcaya section were paved but the shoulders of the road in the Benguet side were left out posing serious threat to the commuting public especially in sharp curves.
“We hope the contractor will fulfill their commitment to correct the defects of their project. We want to ensure that our rehabilitated roads would conform to international standards for the safety of our constituents and the motoring public using the roadline,” he said.
Part of the funds of concreting works was allegedly diverted for the construction of a by-pass bridge along the Ambuclao dam area rendering the earmarked budget for concreting insufficient.
Dangwa said it would be up to the contractor to find means and resources to remedy the situation in the Benguet side since he will continue to raise his objections on the project if no concrete action is done by concerned government agencies and project implementors.
He said he would pursue his earlier threat to bring the matter to the House of Representatives committee on public works to determine the real cause of the sub-standard implementation of the foreign-assisted project.
The 103 km road links neighboring provinces of Region I in the west and Region II in the east. The improved road is expected to spur economic development in different provinces since the travel time would be significantly reduced from the usual six-hour travel from Baguio to Nueva Vizcaya to only four hours.
The Cordillera is one of the beneficiaries of the Super Region concept of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in infrastructure development since almost all national roads in the region had been allotted funds under the North Luzon Agri-business Quadrangle for their rehabilitation the next three years.
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