DAVAO del Norte second district representative Alan Dujali reiterates that the delay with the construction of the Tuganay Bridge in the municipality of Carmen is due to budget constraints.
In a press conference on February 1, Dujali said the intended budget for the Tuganay Bridge was not included in the national budget for 2022, thus it was delayed.
However, he clarified that his team coordinated with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to follow up on the funding.
“Naa mi dokumento kung giunsa namo pag follow up sa pondo sa Tuganay Bridge sa DPWH central. Na-transmit sa amo ang budget (under the) national expenditure, August. Naa na nasulod ang budget sa Tuganay Bridge, sa Tadeco Road (We have documents regarding our follow-up with DPWH central. The budget, under the national expenditure, was transmitted in August meaning there is already a budget for Tuganay Bridge and Tadeco Road),” Dujali said.
This follows after Davao del Norte governor Edwin Jubahib said on January 25 that Dujali did not prioritize the Tuganay Bridge, which is under the representative’s development projects for the province.
“Ako daw giugong ang pondo mao wala naimplementar ang projects when in fact kabalo sila na walay pondo nga na-donwload for 2022 para mahuman ang project sa Tuganay (They said I used the funds that’s why the projects were nto implemented when in fact, they already knew that there was no budget for 2022),” Dujali said.
DPWH-Davao spokesperson Dean Ortiz told SunStar Davao on January 30 that there is already an allocated budget for Tuganay Bridge for 2023, thus construction can be resumed soon.
On the other hand, representative Dujali mentioned that most of his projects for the past three years, amounting to approximately P15 billion, have already been completed and turned over to their respective local government units. ICM