IT’S good that officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 and the contractor it hired, Zion Construction, listened to the voice of reason in the form of Jonathan Tumulak, the focal person of the Cebu Provincial Traffic Management, who pointed out what they missed when they decided to close the northbound lane of the Mananga Bridge for preventive maintenance work.
Tumulak said DPWH 7 officials and Zion Construction admitted they failed to lay down a traffic management plan that would have provided rerouting schemes while work was in progress. But how could they come up with such a plan when they didn’t coordinate with the Talisay City Government and even the Provincial Capitol?
The suspension of work for at least 15 days should give time for the DPWH and Zion Construction to make amends and for all government concerned to finally lay down a traffic management plan, which is needed considering the importance of the bridge in the movement of people and cargo to and from southern Cebu.
After our sad experience in the construction of the underpass in Mambaling, Cebu City, there is this belief that government officials already absorbed the lessons from the traffic gridlocks the activity generated. DPWH and the Cebu City Government went ahead with the implementation of the project there sans a credible traffic management plan and people had to deal with the consequences until now.
Delays in the implementation of the project—or any other reason for that matter-- should not be used as bases to proceed with the work even without a traffic management plan.
This is why the insistence of officials of the Regional Development Council 7 for DPWH officials to come up with a credible traffic management plan first before proceeding with the construction of the other underpass along UN Ave. in Mandaue City was correct. There was less hassle when work there finally started.
Again, lessons need to be learned, or we will be repeating the same mistakes over and over again—and tax people’s patience or dent our economy or both.