ILOILO City – The Department of Public Works and Highways in Western Visayas (DPWH-6) will strictly monitor contractors across the region on the specified guidelines for road safety and traffic management.
During the 13th Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) regular session on Friday, DPWH-6 assistant chief construction division Engr. Ormel Santos said contractors will be monitored if they follow the specified requirements for road safety.
“We will inform our regional director to strictly monitor this traffic management item nga all requirements specifically sa mga reflectorized signages must be complied kag i-instruct namon ang district engineers to strictly implement this,” Santos added.
Last Oct. 7, the DPWH-6 notified contractors across the region of the observance of the traffic management and occupational safety health program following an inspection by the regional agency which showed contractors don’t follow exact requirements on road signages and warning signs on the ongoing projects.
“We wrote this contractors to inform them nga they must comply sa ini nga directive and to secure that the proper methods must be made for a safer workplace and safety gid sang traveling public,” Santos said, noting that the contractors should put proper signages and warning signs on roads and bridges to avoid accidents.
However, the DPWH-6 official admitted there are those who don’t follow the proper sizes and measures of the signages or warning devices which pushed them to implement a “stricter” monitoring.
Santos made the statement following the request of Vice Gov. Christine “Tingting” Garin, who on Nov. 19 brought up the issue about road safety and traffic management after she saw an “unlighted bridge” in Barangay Lanutan, Miag-ao, Iloilo – which was under construction.
Garin raised the concern on the “continuing negligent practice of contractors in putting up signages which are not in accordance with the standard set by the Traffic Management Lay-out of the Department of Public Works and Highways.”
She said contracts for the construction or repair of roads have terms and conditions “that a contractor should abide, such as providing warning and safety signs and coordinating with the respective LGUs for traffic management and road safety.”
“Most contractors do not properly abide by this contractual obligation,” Garin added.
She said the contractors’ negligence is a form of a criminal offense “as it puts the lives of our people in danger, every day, as people travel and pass by the numerous on-going construction and repairs of road.”
She also noted a resolution of the 12th Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Aug. 14, 2018 urging the DPWH-6 “to closely monitor the implementation of road infrastructure projects in the province of Iloilo, facilitate and maintain alternate routes and roads, coordinate with local officials for traffic management, and compel contractors to strictly observe their timelines and deliverables particularly the installation of reflectorized signage with the end that safety, comfort and convenience of our people secured.”
“Road accidents continue to happen and compliance of contractors in putting up proper road signs are lacking,” Garin said.
“Road signs are designed to provide warnings, but how does it provide proper warning when signages are too small to be readily visible to motorists, when signages are place one or two meters just right before the construction, and when signages are non-reflectorized in a dimly lit construction area,” she added.
According to the Philippine Statistic Authority, 733 persons were killed in road incidents in Region 6.
The Iloilo Provincial Police Office, meanwhile, recorded 485 road accidents linked to the absence of signages on roads undergoing constructions on the national highways from Jan. 2018 to present.
Garin said she wanted the DPWH-6 to look into the problem and so that they can provide solutions with the help of the provincial government.
She added the province is committed to issue a provincial ordinance, if needed, to secure that contractors will comply with proper warning devices and signages./PN
