|
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
DPWH tells contractor to finish project by Nov.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has given the contractor of the P785.17-million Cebu South Road Improvement Project (CSRIP) until November to finish the much-delayed work on the road stretching from Talisay City to Carcar.
Rushing to finish the project will mean no sidewalks in some portions, which officials admit will inconvenience the public.
Jose Bustamante of the DPWH project monitoring office (PMO) said they decided to cancel portions of the project, which President Arroyo ordered to be prioritized, just to complete it in a month’s.
Bustamante said this is due to the failure of the DPWH 7’s second engineering district to carry out its responsibility to remove obstructions, including the acquisition of road-right-of-way (RROW).
Surrender
“Wala na tayong magagawa (We can no longer do anything). Surrender na ang engineering district,” Bustamante said in an interview yesterday.
He said the DPWH-PMO gave the DPWH 7’s second engineering district until the second week of October to complete the RROW acquisition.
However, DPWH will cancel some portions of the CSRIP, reducing the project’s cost.
Bustamante said project contractor Aboitiz Construction Group Inc.-Kumagai Gumi Co., which is expected to complete package one of the project in November, will be receiving a lesser amount due to the changes. Package one involves the 11-kilometer stretch from Talisay City to Naga.
“The price of the project will be lower. The contractor will have to understand,” he added.
As of yesterday, Bustamante said they have to finish the road shoulder, curb and gutters of about three kilometers on both sides of the road.
Although there will no longer be sidewalks, pedestrians can still use the road shoulder that has a width of about 1.1 meters, he said.
The PMO also gave utility companies, which are said to be contributing to the delay, up to the end of October to transfer their posts and cables.
Earlier, the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 infrastructure development committee already suggested to DPWH to give the utility firms an ultimatum in transferring their utilities.
The delay in the transfer of the posts and cables has slowed down the work on the three bridges of Pinggan, Abuno and Pakigne.
Bustamante said, however, that work on the three structures have been ongoing although they are still halfway into completion.
Contract
According to the project monitoring report of the RDC 7, package one is delayed. The contract on the portion of the project expired last May 29 and the contractor’s request for a 75-day extension was not acted upon by the DPWH. The 75-day period ended last Aug. 12.
The contractor reiterated its request for an eight-month extension but Bustamante said it was not approved by the DPWH.
The agency also denied the contractor’s request to finish the project in December.
CSRIP’s package two — the 18-kilometer stretch from Naga to Carcar — is “substantially completed.”
Bustamante said they expect the portion to be ready by Nov. 6. (CYR)
(September 28, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
check>
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
