A total of 193 dump trucks and heavy equipment, including 32 procured with the personal funds of 3rd District Rep. Rosanna Vergara, were seen by the public as they walked from Plaza Lucero on Del Pilar Street to the National Food Authority (NFA) compound along Maharlika Highway here for the traditional early morning walk themed “Kaunlaran ng Cabanatuan Handog sa Kabataan.”
Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara said that the fleet include dump trucks, transit mixers, water trucks, payloaders, road graders, vibratory compactors, back hoes (wheel), bulldozers, aggregate separators, stationary concrete pump, power paver, tractor heads, and mini dump trucks.
The city government also provided two batching plants, the records showed.
Most of the equipment were newly acquired but Vergara said even the old ones remain operational and useful. Except for the 32 funded by his wife, everything was bought through local funds without any loan.
“Itong mga bagong sasakyan na pawang bayad at walang utang ay umaandar para gawin yung mga dike na pu-protekta sa atin dito sa, para yung fl ood control ay maisaayos” Vergara said.
The equipment, he said will ensure the future of the city.
“Ayoko pong maulit yung 2015 kayat bigyan niyo po kami ng kaunting panahon dahil hindi ganoon lang ang pagtatayo ng isang dike na iikot sa ating lungsod,” the mayor added.
This city suffered from severe floods brought by a series of heavy typhoons, including Lando and Nona in 2015. Vergara said a 17-kilometer dike is set to be constructed around the city.
This dike is similar to the existing Fortaleza Road traversing Barangay San Isidro here which was built in 1936 by then Pres. Manuel Luis-Quezon in the aftermath of a huge flood that supposedly killed at least a thousand people in Barangay Aduas.
Vergara noted that proper disaster response in 2015 resulted to zero casualty.
“Pero yun pong hirap sa magsasaka, yung hirap sa taumbayan, yung hirap sa mga mahihirap na idinulot nung naturang bagyo ay hindi makakalimutan,” he said.
The government, he said, cannot afford another disaster to hit its people, prompting them to greatly look on environmental concerns.
“Environment first, the government revolves around the environment and inside the environment infrastructure, social responsibility agriculture, health, education and every aspect of governance will be addressed,” Vergara added.
Vergara said the provision of heavy equipment result to reduction of cost of government infrastructure projects as the city’s 50-year master plan is being updated with a comprehensive land use plan to pave the way for the construction of new roads.
A locally-funded 1.2-kilometer bridge is being constructed from Barangay Cruz Roja to Barangay Sapang at a cost of P406 million.
The three-lane bridge could have been worth P1.5 billion if implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highway’s (DPWH’s), he added.
The bridge is seen to ease traffic in the daily clogged Valdefuente Bridge on a section of Maharlika Highway in Barangay Valdefuente here that links this city to northern areas of Nueva Ecija and Cagayan Valley Region.
Engr. Ricardo Puno, acting district engineer of the Nueva Ecija 2nd Engineering district, said the heavy equipment provided by Congresswoman Vergara have expedited clearing activities in road sections, particularly in Gabaldon town, affected by and slides and mudslides during the recent typhoons.
