ILOILO City – All road projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in this city must have a drainage component to avert flooding, said Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
“I may issue an executive order or what that we won’t allow road projects without a drainage component,” said Espinosa.
Complaints about delayed DPWH road projects and flooded streets greeted Espinosa upon his return from a nearly two-week trade mission to the United States.
The mayor observed that existing drainage are destroyed by road projects and are not anymore repaired.
The Iloilo City District Engineering Office (ICDEO) of DPWH should coordinate with the city government regarding its road projects, stressed Espinosa.
“I think I need to talk to the ICDEO again. What are they doing sa city? Indi man na sila ang ginabasol kundi ang syudad man gihapon,” he said.
One very delayed DPWH project here is the P100-million drainage on Jalandoni Street, City Proper
Espinosa said he planned to bring the matter to DPWH secretary Mark Villar.
The city government must not remain helpless, according to Councilor Ely Estante, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s committee on infrastructure.
“We own this place but we are powerless over projects that bring us inconvenience,” he lamented.
The DPWH contractor of the Jalandoni drainage project failed to complete it within the 256 allotted calendar days.
Estante called for an investigation.
From the result of the investigation, Estante hoped to craft an ordinance that would give the city government power over government infrastructure projects.
“Kon insakto ang monitoring kag husto ang planning and implementation, indi ko magpati nga indi matapos sa husto,” said Estante.
DPWH Region 6 had issued a Notice of Termination to Sargasso Construction and Development Corp., the contractor.
Sargasso’s contract actually expired on May 29, 2018 yet but the drainage project is only 70 percent complete, according to Engineer Mavie Gustilo, project engineer of DPWH-6./PN
