STUCK IN TIME. Way past its target completion date of June 19, all that is constructed for this pedestrian overpass in front of the Systems Plus school in Balibago, Angeles City is a solitary post. PHOTO BY BONG LACSON
ANGELES CITY- Public Works Sec. Rogelio Singson has ordered that contractors be barred from doing other government projects until they have finished all projects lined up for completion before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) here in January next year.
Singson relayed this information via text to Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan who had complained earlier of the slow-paced construction of the projects in various parts of Angeles.
Pamintuan ealier urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to disqualify contractors who would fail to finish their projects in the city as scheduled. He said that he wanted all projects finished by this November.
“The APEC will need at least 1,700 rooms for participants to its summit in Angeles, we have more than enough rooms for them in our hotels within Clark Freeport and Angeles,” Pamintuan said in a meeting here yesterday of the Regional Development Council (RDC) that installed Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado as its new chair.
Pamintuan told Singson, however, that construction of the various projects under the DPWH here have resumed full blast after he met with DPWH officials and the contractors. Pamintuan said work on the P60-million Pandan-Magalang Road in his city has also resumed amid initial rightof-way problems.
He initially also cited “red-tape” and other “procedural quandaries especially in the regional office of the DPWH that hamper the progress on the projects.” Apart from the Pandan- Magalang road and 6th street, the other projects being rushed for the APEC summit include upgrading of the MacArthur Highway in the Balibago commercial district costing P41.5 million, and the Friendship Road costing P100 million; and the widening and upgrade of the drainage system along Don Bonifacio Road costing P19 million.
The projects also include footbridges across busy roads are also underway, including one costing P22 million in front of the Chevalier School near the boundary of Angeles and the capital city of San Fernando. Another footbridge is being eyed across the highway in Balibago district in front of Systems Plus School.
“These footbridges have to be constructed now in order to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and the safety of our students and other pedestrians crossing Mac Arthur Highway,” Pamintuan added.
