By Marlo Lubguban
LAGAWE,
Ifugao -- Construction of the long-delayed Ifugao General Hospital (IGH) in
this capital town may soon be finished after Gov. Jerry Dalipog pledged it
would be finished.
The governor recently met with top officials
of the Dept. of Health-Cordillera, Cordillera Regional Project Monitoring
Committee chaired by National Economic Development Authority Cordillera and
structural engineers Joselito Buhangin and Renato Tandoc of Saint Louis
University to discuss and hasten the hospital’s construction.
The Dept. of Health Cordillera has taken over
implementation of the project following delay of contractors to finish it.
With dwindling budget of the regional line
agency in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, delays in construction and urgent
need of Ifugao to have its own hospital, committed P50 million fund to finish
construction of the needed health facility.
As of this August, the building was in its
third phase of construction which included putting up of windows, doors, and
lighting.
Structural integrity issues caused delay of
the project.
Dalipog said he was giving priority to
address these issues.
Structural engineers Buhangin and Tandoc
studied the existing main building and recommended reinforcement of its
internal frame and modification of its outside features.
Because the project was built on uneven
ground and its frame has been proven to be structurally unsound, Buhangin and
Tandoc urged further study like including stabilizing structure of the main
building closing the original U-shaped building into a more stable rectangular
structure.
The expertise of the SLU engineers was sought
in 2019 to study the IGH main building, particularly, the structural
retrofitting done by the previous contractor and to address buckling of
basement and second-floor support beams.The RPMC agreed to monitor the project
as it completes its third phase by the end of the year while the DOH-CAR and
the provincial government of Ifugao committed to work together in studying the
needed resources and data for construction of additional structures. Dalipog
volunteered to undertake testing of the soil load-bearing capacity with DOH and
consultancy services of Buhangin and Tandoc in coming up with a design to add a
support structure that may close the U-shaped building.
The meeting is part of project monitoring
activities in the Cordillera region by the RPMC.
The
RPMC is composed of representatives from government agencies, civil society
organizations, and local government units.
The body monitors and reviews procurement in
government-implemented projects.
It conducts problem-solving sessions for
delayed projects and visits the well-implemented ones for learning and future
replication. -- NEDA-SPCAR
No comments:
Post a Comment