DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte lambasted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the ongoing bridge repair that has caused heavy traffic in the Matina-Bankerohan area for months now.
"Yesterday (Sunday), there was a horrendous traffic there. Ang nandoon dalawang tao lang, naka-shorts lang, hindi mo malaman kung empleyado o hindi, papaano gagalaw yung traffic diyan?" Duterte said in an interview with the media Monday afternoon.
"Kaya ngayon maski sino, maski yung kagang magkutkot ng bagang niya dito, you get a permit from the Office of the Mayor. I have assigned Atty. (Neil) Dalumpines to handle this particular problem," he added.
Dalumpines is one of the legal consultants at City Mayor's Office.
Duterte said any office, private or government, must not begin any project without informing his office and must update him how many days they would need to complete the project.
"Kayo mga contractor, if you are awarded with projects, you employ as much as you need to complete the project in the shortest possible time," he said.
"Basta huwag sila mag-umpisa ng project, sipain ko sila, tingnan mo," he added.
DPWH-Davao Director Mariano Alquiza earlier said the rehabilitation of the Gov. Generoso bridge will take longer than previously announced. The repair had been scheduled for completion in October.
He assured, however, that the project will be completed before the year ends.
Alquiza said they are having a hard time to bore in new piles because of the existing pile foundation that have been found to be structurally weak already because of regular wear and tear. They have to remove these old piles and bore in new ones.
It was not explained why the extraction of the old piles were not taken into consideration in the preparation of the schedule for completion.
DPWH project coordinator engineer Alvin Cabueñas said the project is being implemented under Disaster Related Rehabilitation Project of DPWH and being managed by Cebu-based Oscar Sarmiento Construction.