Friday, May 23, 2008 Remonde pledges to push for completion of projects By Katrina A. Balamceda Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WITH less than two years left before the end of President Arroyo’s term, a Malacañang official pledged that he will push for a 24-hour work schedule to complete 42 unfinished infrastructure pro-jects in Central Philippines.
The Arroyo administration has 149 infrastructure projects, 52 of which are in the Central Philippines region. Only 10 of the 52 have been completed so far.
Sixteen more are expected to be completed this year, Presidential Management Staff Director General and Secretary Cerge Remonde said.
Five of the 52 projects are in Cebu, including the Cebu North Coastal Road. Only 1.23 percent of the work scope has been accomplished so far, consisting of embankment and soil spreading works.
It is scheduled to be completed in 2011 yet.
Remonde was in Cebu yesterday to brief different government and non-government agencies and sectors on the status of President Arroyo’s priority projects.
“To (complete the projects by 2010), we will press for the adoption of 24-hour work shifts, wherever they are needed,” he said during the 4th National Infrastructure Forum held at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel yesterday.
Remonde gave a status report to representatives of national and regional government agencies, business and private investors, the religious sector and the youth.
The proposed Daanbantayan seaport, which was scheduled for completion last March, is only 65 per cent complete. The acquisition of road right-of-way as access road to the port is still ongoing, he said.
In Santander town, a port was also proposed but the project’s civil works timeframe has yet to be determined. The project will be implemented by the Cebu Provincial Government.
Civil works on the coal-fired power plant of the Korean Electric Power Company (KepCo) also haven’t started yet. The Department of Energy (DOE) will be the implementing agency for the project.
A cold storage facility in Cebu is also scheduled for completion this June. However, a refrigerated truck for Cebu City and an ice-maker for San Remigio town have yet to be purchased.
Central Philippines is one of the five super regions the President identified in her 2006 State of the Nation Address.
Remonde explained that super regions are clustered according to their “unique economic strengths and indigenous assets”.
“We want to make sure that Central Philippines super region shall bear the badge of tourism for the country,” Remonde said.
He added that Central Philippines boasts of “unique and lush greenery, bio-diverse ecosystem, beaches and natural wonders.”
He also said that the region’s colorful provincial culture, historical landmarks and warm and friendly people are the reasons why Arroyo envisions it to be the country’s top tourist destination.
The four other super regions are the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, the Luzon Urban Beltway, Mindanao Agribusiness and the Cyber Corridor, which spans from
Baguio to Davao.
In the same forum, Remonde also asked the media to be the government’s partner in promoting the Arroyo administration’s infrastructure projects.
He ventured to test the “traditionally strained relations” between the government and the media by appealing to the media to be one with the government in “promoting, monitoring and overseeing the priority infrastructure projects of the Arroyo administration.”
