DPWH: No ghost projs along Halsema highway

By Angel Baybay

BONTOC, Mountain Province – There are no ghost projects being implemented along the Mount Data to Bontoc section of the Halsema highway in relation to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) projects of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

This was bared by the Mountain Province District Engineering Office of the Department of Public Works and Highways here disputing anti-corruption advocates who claimed anomalies in implementation of the multi-billion projects.

Engineer Benedict Matib, MPDEO construction engineer, said the P9.6 million earmarked for construction of a detour bridge in preparation for replacement of Boga Bridge along the Mount Data area being claimed a ghost project after it was declared under construction and nearing completion “is virtually baseless, fabricated and unfair to the agency.”

He admitted the earlier allocation of P9.6 million for the construction of a detour bridge in the area prior to the rehabilitation and expansion of the one-way Boga Bridge to allow a two-way traffic and prevent delays in travel time of motorists.

However, instead of constructing the detour bridge, Matib explained DPWH experts thought it was to utilize the available funds for the improvement of the drainage system and foundation of the existing bridge before the contractor will continue the same at the foundation and the floor area of the structure.

If the original plan will be followed, the national government will be spending nearly P40 million for the whole project which includes the P9.6 million construction of the detour bridge nearby and the completion of the structure.

But with the new strategy adapted by the MPDEO, Matib revealed the total project cost is only P20 million which will include the P9.6 million for the drainage system and the initial foundation of the bridge structure and another over P10 million for the continuation of the fo9undation and the floor area of the bridge.

“Ot is unfair for individuals and groups with obvious selfish motives to accuse the DPWH of implementing ghost projects just to ruin the image of the agency when in fact the realignment of the funds to the bridge proper has been beneficial to the government since it resulted to over 100 percent savings,: Matib said.

Engineer Leonardo Leyaley, MPDEO district engineer, recommended to the contractor of the bridge not to totally close the bridge once they will start doing the works on the flooring and completion of the foundation of the structure until such time that appropriate alternate routes shall have been improved to ensure the convenience of travel along the road.

He appealed to the commuting public to understand the inconveniences being caused by the on-going completion of the SONA projects of the President in the province since they are trying their best to finish the same in the prescribed deadline by the end of this year since convenient travel will be enjoyed in the coming months.