Sunday, September 09, 2007 Folks demand blacklist of erring asphalt overlay contractors
VARIOUS sectors and concerned citizens in Baguio have demanded the immediate blacklisting of several contractors responsible for the reported substandard asphalt overlay in five major roads here.
The snowballing call for the imposition of stiff penalties against the erring contractors came after Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. ordered the heavy equipment and personnel of the city government to scrape the scoured asphalt overlay because he could no longer wait for the contractors to at least minimize the sufferings of the public as a result of the numerous huge road holes.
Bautista said the contractors of the defective projects should immediately act on orders from concerned motorists and agencies to restore the damaged road portions.
Construction industry stakeholders supported the call for the banning of irresponsible project implementers, saying that poor performances in their assigned works should no longer be awarded since they are only after the income and not for the quality of their work.
The continuous defiance of asphalt overlay contractors is an affront to the authority of the implementing agency since the damages have occurred within the one-year warranty period to restore all defects in their projects, they said.
Motorists are now complaining their vehicles are damaged by the numerous holes along major roads in the city, thus, they are spending much on vehicle maintenance.
Concerned city government officials pointed out that the contractors of the asphalt overlay projects must reimburse the expenses of the city from the scraping of the substandard asphalt.
Sectors called on the Department of Public Works and Highways to scrutinize the performance of contractors before awarding the projects to them.
