City to implement P383 million in infra for barangays

CEBU, Philippines — Different barangays in Cebu City will soon benefit from at least P383.99 million worth of infrastructure projects.

City Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the City Council’s committee on infrastructure, said the amount was approved by the City Council last week and Mayor Tomas Osmeña has signed the Notice to Proceed of all the projects.

“We will also set schedule for the groundbreaking of these projects,” he said.

The bulk of the budget, amounting to P283.49 million, is for the second phase of the Cebu City Medical Center building which has been given go signal by the City Council and Osmeña.

Apart from the CCMC building construction, the approved projects are the P15- million road concreting in Barangay Kamputhaw, P8.5-million road concreting in Barangay Bulacao, P5.5-million slope protection in Barangay Sinsin, P6.9-million road concreting in Barangay Guba, P3.3-million road concreting with drainage system in Barangay Lahug, P22.7-million road concreting in Barangay Mambaling, and P13-million road concreting in Barangay Apas.

Other projects are the P7.4-million road concreting in Barangay Guadalupe, P7.4-million road concreting in Barangay Kamputhaw, P3.1-million stone masonry and slope protection in Barangay Guba, P2.4-million concrete pavement in Barangay Apas, and the construction of silt trap/catchments in 14 other barangays worth P4.8 million.

Also, on top of the P300 million worth of infrastructure, the city government has started implementing P60 million worth of infrastructure projects in different barangays of the city.

Last week, the city started the road concreting projects in Horseshoe Drive and Bacayo Street, both in Barangay Guadalupe.

Assistant City Engineer Nilo Igot said the P60 million is part of the almost P150 million budget in 2017 and 2018 that were not implemented during those years. He said other road infrastructure projects will be implemented in barangays Lahug and Capitol Site, among others.

Igot said the mayor has ordered to shift from asphalting to concreting of the major roads, saying concrete lasts longer.

“Wala na mo-invest sa asphalting. Kay thrust ni mayor concreting naman para long-lasting,” Igot said.

Yesterday, the city held a groundbreaking ceremony for other projects in Barangay Lahug such as the P12.8-million concrete pavement with drainage system in Sitio Kamagong, the P9-million concrete pavement from Salinas Drive to Sanson Road, the P3.3-million concrete pavement with drainage system in Justice Street, and the improvement of the Sugbo Home Road which costs P1.9 million.

The P60-million budget will cover the road concreting of 15 kilometers of road in Cebu City, he added.

Igot said the city has a budget of over P100 million for road concreting this year, adding that the program of works and estimates are being worked on for it to be bid out.

One of the factors that will cause the delay of the projects is the bidding which will take time as it includes publication, invitation to bid, post qualification, approval from the City Council, among others, he added.

General Services Office Head Ronald Malacora, who also sits as officer-in-charge for the prioritization of asphalting/concreting, said the city government’s thrust is to concrete all main roads of the city to prevent accidents.

“Naka-line up nga P60 million worth of infrastructure projects karong semanahona. Kasagaran ana is concreting projects kay mo-shift na ang city government from asphalting to concreting kay ang asphalting man gud kon mabasa sa uwan, dali madaot, whereas ang concreting mas dugay maguba,” he said.

However, Malacora said there are asphalting projects for the interior roads as concreting will be prioritized for the main roads that are more traversed by the public.

For this year, he said the city has a budget of P100 million for asphalting of interior roads.

Igot said the asphalting is still needed for the maintenance of the roads.

“Ang wala na-concrete, aspaltohon pa… ang kaning concrete, after five years, nindot ni overlay-an og asphalt para ang lifetime motaas pa,” he added. — BRP (FREEMAN)