Thursday, June 05, 2008 Suy: Overloaded vehicles to blame for damaged road By Erwin Cabarles
A DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) official said the drivers and owners of overloaded vehicles who pass by the national road in San Miguel, Iloilo are to blame for its sorry state.
Iloilo Fourth District Engineering Office officer-in-charge George Suy said they do their utmost to maintain the road but "our effort is in vain due to the overloaded vehicles that traverse" the highway.
He added in his letter to Sun.Star that national roads in other parts of the country have the same problem.
According to him, it is not only in San Miguel that overloaded vehicles damage road sections.
Also, he added, severely damaged road sections in the province lead to quarry sites where heavy and overloaded vehicles like trucks go.
He said his office has written a letter to the regional director DPWH-Western Visayas last May 12, requesting permission to conduct an axle load survey with apprehension at the road sections.
He added that they have also written a letter to the mayor of San Miguel, requesting for the passage of a municipal resolution prohibiting and penalizing overloaded vehicles passing by the road portions.
According to Suy, P27 million has been allocated for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of the damaged national road along Mandurriao-San Miguel and Alimodian-Maasin-Cabatuan in the 2008 Infrastructure Program. However, he said that until the budget is released, work on the infrastructure could not proceed.
Suy said he apologizes to the public, especially to motorists and commuters who pass by the road, for its present condition.
DPWH is maintaining the road by spraying water to prevent dirt and dust from accumulating in the air. Motorists and residents have complained about the hassles caused by the damaged road.
