ONGOING repairs on portions of the winding road in Barangay Guadalupe in Carcar City leading to Barili town are reportedly endangering motorists.
According to complaints forwarded to the office of Carcar City Mayor Nicepuro Apura, extracted slabs of concrete are lying by the roadside.
“I’ll have the contractor called because the contractor never bothered to inform me about the project or pay me a courtesy call. The contractor just started destroying the road,” the mayor said in Cebuano.
Understanding sought
Candy Quirante of Quirante Construction, however, denied the allegations.
She said they dump extracted slabs in a vacant area next to the Land Bank, where they are building a loading bay.
There were also reports that the slabs are covering drainage canals along the route.
Julito Flores, minibus operator president, said commuters and drivers should understand the situation.
He said inconvenience is unavoidable. But the road made narrow by the repairs is not the only reason for the traffic. Some erring drivers are also to blame, he said.
“Naa sab mga driver nga mopaugat gamay, mao nang ma-traffic diha,” he said.
Safety measures
Quirante said commuters must have seen newly extracted slabs by the roadside. “When the backhoe breaks the concrete, we have to wait for the dump truck to haul the slabs away,” she said.
She said they’ve placed orange traffic cones and large tapes on the affected portions of the road to guide motorists, especially at night. But she said they’ve already lost 18 cones to thieves.
“Ga-safety sab intawon mi ug naninguha nga mahuman dayon ni (We implement safety precautions and we’re doing our best to finish the project as soon as possible),” she said.
Quirante said they got the “notice to proceed” for the project last April 22. Expected completion date for the 910-meter-long road-concreting job is 224 calendar days.
Sun.Star Cebu called and texted Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. (Cebu, 1st district), Department of Public Works and Highways 7 Director Ador Canlas and Guadalupe Barangay Captain Badong Aleonar, but they failed to answer.