Batangas execs slam delay in road project.

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
 | November 12, 2002 | Copyright
(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)
BATANGAS CITY-Local officials here have asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to look into the long delay in the completion of the P50-million road widening project that links Sto. Tomas town and Batangas City via the 40-kilometer Star Tollway, popularly called the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) Highway.
The three-km access road from Barangay Balagtas leads to the Batangas Port, which is being groomed to become the country's alternative to the Port of Manila.
The Manila port has been blamed for congestion in traffic in the metropolis as trucks coming from the busy port have to pass through the city's already jampacked roads and streets.
The officials, who requested not to be named, said the project has been stalled for quite sometime due to the insistence of two top DPWH officials to take over completion of the project from private contractors who had made preparatory works on the four-lane highway.
They said "the DPWH director for Luzon and the DPWH Region 4 director were exerting pressure on the private contractors to give up the access road project by imposing stringent conditions for its completion."
The Inquirer tried several times to contact DPWH assistant secretary Florante Soriquez, the official in charge of Luzon projects, and DPWH IV-A regional director Nestor Agustin but they were always out of their offices.
The same Batangas City officials said the two public works officials are holding back the approval of the additional contract of work for the private contractors unless the contractor agrees that the DPWH takes over the project.
"In effect, what these DPWH officials would want to happen is make the private contractors mere dummies in that portion of the project while they (DPWH) undertake its completion," one city official said.
The cost of the uncompleted portion of the project is estimated at P22 million.
Another official noted that despite the performance record of the private contractors in public infrastructure in Batangas, the two DPWH officials would not want to release the additional contract of work.
"The bottom line here is these contractors are wary that their records will be tarnished if they allow the DPWH to take over the project under their contract names," he added.
The officials asked Public Works Secretary Simeon Datumanong to order an investigation, saying the road project would benefit the town and bring progress to the entire province. Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau