Destruction of road hit;‘waste of public funds’

By Tanya A. Tabora

BAGUIO CITY – Residents here and nearby La Trinidad, Benguet assailed government officials responsible for what they called destruction of a well-paved cemented road to reconcretize it.

The repair of the 500-meter stretch of Magsaysay Avenue here had been causing inconvenience to motorists for more than two weeks prompting them to petition contractors to speed up work to ease heavy traffic.

Complainants said, the past nights, there were only four laborers working the stretch from the Pines City Colleges up to Bell Church.

Following this, contractors added a few crew who started work at daytime, but still, they said, these were not enough.

The P13-million “re-blocking” is part of the package of road repairs which includes Outlook Drive, Kennon Road and Marcos Highway.

The Kennon Road project here has also been controversial because simultaneous with its closure, the alternate Loakan Road was likewise closed, resulting to traffic jams in both roads
Project implementors started the repair before the elections. The petitioners asked the contractor to work 24 hours daily and add more laborers to speed up work.

According to Public Works and Highways district engineer Ireneo Gallato, the project for the repair will be done early next month.

Irate residents said the project was a waste of public funds since the road was in good condition before work started to have it reconcretized.

“They could have used the funds to build or repair barangay roads which needed more priority,” a motorist said.