AN official of the Department of Public Works and Highways Davao Region (DPWH-Davao) said one of the contributing factors to why roads in the Davao Region are deteriorating is due to overloaded trucks.
DPWH Spokesperson Dean Ortiz said during the 18th Regular Session on November 15, 2022 that the roads in the region are built to accommodate vehicles that weigh as much as 10 tons. However, 20-ton trucks are now plying the roads of the region. The roads in the region are not intended to accommodate trucks of this size.
“We can monitor the trucks coming in Davao City, but... we can only do so much,” Ortiz said.
He said they can only monitor the weight of the big trucks traveling along J.P. Laurel in Panabo, Davao del Norte, and in Digos, Davao del Sur. The agency has built weighbridge stations, located around 10 kilometers away from populated areas, to monitor the weight of the trucks.
To closely monitor the trucks, Davao City Councilor Bernie Al-ag proposed the monitoring and regulation of the weights of big trucks traveling in and out of the city.
“I think what we need to do about this, number one, in regulating the weights of the truck, if we have an existing policy about this we need to review this, tan-awon nato kung appropriate pa ba ni sa atoang mga roads (Let’s take a look into this if it is still appropriate),” Al-ag said.
Also, he said DPWH should also check with their planning department, especially the quality of the asphalt that is being used for the road construction so that the budget will not be wasted.
“Sana hindi masayang ang pera ng mga tao (I hope we will not waste the money of the public). We will do asphalting then how many months lang ma-deform and then magiging source pa ng accidents sa city, so instead na mohayag-hayag ang kinabuhi sa mga tao, nagkaproblema na noon ta (It would be a wase that after asphalting the roads, it will deteriorate and be the cause of accidents. Instead of improving the livability in the city, it has caused a problem),” Al-ag said.
However, Ortiz said if the road deteriorates, the cost of the repair will be charged to the contractor of the project due to a structural warranty of five years.
“If there are portions that needed to be repaired, those are totally at no cost to the government, it is under the contractor,” Ortiz said.
While the repair will not cost the government, Al-ag still requested their office to follow the standards of the construction, especially the contractor. He said Dabawenyos deserve quality infrastructure.
“Hindi po pwede na after one year or two years mabungkag na pud ang road (It is not right that after a year or two it will be reconstructed again). This is not efficient, we demand efficiency,” Al-ag said.
He said there should be a permanent solution or long-term solution to deteriorating roads. KSD