Mayor orders clearing of roads from job mix

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – Irked by the unabated use of sidewalks and roads as mixing areas for construction aggregates, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan directed concerned city departments to clear all roadways and sideways from the existence of construction aggregates and job mix used by private and public contractors in implementation of projects since these contribute in the clogging of the city’s drainage system and considered eye sores.

In Memorandum No. 142-2011, Domogan also ordered the city engineer’s office and the city building official to make sure that Ordinance No. 43, series of 2007 which bans the existence of cement batching plants in the city is being followed by private and public contractors in order to rid the city with pollutants that affect the health of the people and the state of the environment.

The order was issued by the local chief executive came after numerous complaints reached his office on the unscrupulous practices of contractors implementing private and public works projects around the city who use sidewalks and roadways as their storage areas for their construction aggregates and the venue used to pour their job mix before using the same in their construction sites.

He said all roadways and sidewalks must be immediately cleared from construction materials and job mix since they greatly contribute in the clogging of the city’s drainage system and continuously cause inconvenience to the motoring public and pedestrians.

More importantly, the city mayor underscored the presence of job mix and construction materials is in direct contrast to the city government’s campaign for clean and green.

The order was also furnished Engr. EdilbertoCarabbacan, regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the Cordillera and engineer Ireneo S. Gallato, district engineer of the DPWH’s Baguio City Engineering District Office, so that they will be the ones to inform their respective contractors to strictly comply with the existing local ordinance relative thereto.

However, residents of Camp 7 and motorists passing through Kennon road slammed local contractor, Itong Tan, for using the vicinity of the lion’s head along Kennon road as a temporary batching plant for his various projects since it is contrary to the existing ordinance.

Domogan ordered the concerned offices to submit their respective reports on the compliance of the offices to his order within ten days upon receipt of the memorandum so that the city government will be able to institute further actions against the erring contractors of private and public works projects in the different parts of the city.

The city mayor said there will be no exemption to the implementation of the order since other big contractors have already complied with the ordinance by removing their concrete batching plants in the city and relocating it outside Baguio in support of the city’s campaign for a cleaner and safer environment.