DPWH confident to catch up on P15-B projects for 2015

The Department of Public Works and Highways-XI is confident it can catch up hitting its targets against accomplishments with the P15-billion budget allocation for infrastructure projects for Davao Region this year.
In a press conference at the sidelines of DPWH-XI monthly regional staff meeting held Wednesday in the DPWH Davao del Norte Engineering Office in Tagum City, Regional Director Engr. Mariano Alquisa bared that the DPWH-XI for the first quarter has accomplished about 2.5 percent of the lined-up infrastructure projects in what can be described as a “slow starter” phase similar to its starting streak last year.
This year DPWH-XI has 723 big infrastructure projects, of which 183 projects have been already been started, while 534 infrastructure projects are not yet started, he said.
“Just like last year we started with only .9 percent in January but in July we picked up with 60-percent accomplishment rate. We’re confident we can catch up in the second quarter this year,” he said.
He admitted that because the budget of the region has really become bigger, from about P9 billion last year to about P15 billion this year or a tremendous increase of about P5 billion, tasks to respond this challenge by his fixed manpower have been great, causing “a little delay” which further generated a domino-like effect in the work chain.
“That’s why I created two more survey teams,” he said, citing one among his quick fixes on a sudden big-budget situation.
Alquisa also reported that of the 358 infrastructure projects lined up last year, there are still 44 projects ongoing at present, with the 304 completed projects accounting 92.46-percent accomplishment rate even as the 2013 fiscal year’s accomplishment had already mopped up 99.58 percent of the year’s P8.3-billion budget.
He also bared that this year’s priority projects would be the paving or concreting of important and strategic roads spread across the region, most of which interconnect parts of provincial interiors and backwoods while some promise great impacts to support known eco-tourism and historical sites in the region.
Included among the national roads up for paving or completion in 2015 fiscal year are the Tagum (Davao del Norte)-Veruela (Agusan del Sur), Tagum City-Kapalong-Talaingod-Bukidnon road, Compostela (Compostela Valley)-Cateel (Davao Oriental) road, Mati (Davao Oriental)-Maragusan (Compostela Valley) road, Davao del Sur-Sarangani road, Mati-San Agustin road, Bansalan-Mount Apo area road, Samal Island circumferential road, Digos-Kapatagan road and the road leading to Pusan Point, the known site of the first sunlight of the New Millennium, in Caraga, Davao Oriental.
On the the other hand, DPWH Davao del Norte District Engineer Lorna Ricardo bared that DPWH for her provinced has 76 big infrastructure projects this year worth P507.5 million, 12 of which are ongoing and 53 projects are still on procurement stage. Cha Monforte, Correspondent