SIQUIJOR—The public works department in Central Visayas will give local government units the right to take over the projects of the Department of Education (DepEd) if there are no interested contractors for the bidding.

This comes after Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo complained that most projects of the DepEd are usually left behind by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

During the Regional Development Council full council meeting held in San Juan, Siquijor on Friday, June 21, 2019, Degamo also said that most of the time, of the buildings requested by DepEd, the DPWH built only the horizontal ones, not the vertical ones.

DPWH 7 Director Edgar Tabacon said these situations occur when no interested contractors join the bidding, especially for projects in remote areas.

He said the DepEd can prepare a Memorandum of Agreement with the local government units (LGUs).

As long as the LGU has the capability to finance the project, it can take over the implementation, he said.

It will now be up to the DepEd what mode of procurement it will use, Tabacon said.

There was no representative from the DepEd during the full council meeting. (JJL)