TO ease traffic jams due to road diggings, all public works contractors and the utilities sector should be charged escalating hourly fees so they would be compelled to finish their jobs right away.
The bottlenecks created by these messy road diggings cost us billions of pesos in lost economic productivity. Manufacturing activities are being disrupted, deliveries are getting stalled, and people are unable to get to work on time.
There could be up to two million road diggings nationwide every year, including those done by private firms supplying water, gas and electricity.
Road excavation permit applicants should be billed rising hourly fees so they will be forced to complete their work without delay. They should also be required to pay additional charges if they choose to do their work on weekdays, instead of weekends.
Government agencies in March last year outlined new guidelines that required all road repairs and diggings to be done only at night – between 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. – to free up busy roads during the day. The Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation and the Metro Manila Development Authority also agreed to require all private contractors to use quick drying cement on road repairs to reduce curing to 24 hours.
But these remedial measures have obviously failed. We still see daylight road diggings being carried out everywhere and open pits left abandoned in all places. This is why Malacañang should produce a new executive order (EO) to ensure highly disciplined road works.
Surely, if the Palace can issue an EO imposing stricter smoking ban guidelines, it can also come up with one enforcing harsher rules on road diggings.--Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza