DPWH reviews contractor’s projects over delays

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is reviewing the projects of a contractor for delays in completing the repair of the P125.3-million Sibut overflow bridge to replace an old bridge that is sagging in San Jose City in Nueva Ecija province, Loreta Malaluan, DPWH assistant director in Central Luzon, said on Monday.

Malaluan said the project awarded to Tokwing Construction Corp. was supposed to be completed in July this year after it was started on Oct. 1, 2015. But only 34.1 percent of the project was completed.

Tokwing did not reply to queries by the Inquirer on Monday.

Detour

She said the old Sibut Bridge was used as a detour for light vehicles. “Heavy vehicles used to pass through the riverbed but when the water rose, trucks began using the old bridge,” she said.

She said she would not know the cause of delay since the project was supervised by the DPWH unified project management office.

The Sibut Bridge was one of three unfinished bridge projects undertaken by Tokwing in Nueva Ecija.

The retrofitting, rehabilitation and strengthening of the Labi 2 Bridge were only 30.8 percent completed. Worth P40.1 million, the project was started on Oct. 8, 2015, and was scheduled to be completed on Dec. 31, 2016.

Other projects

A similar project for the Salvacion Bridge, costing P10.4 million, was 54.55 percent done and behind the scheduled completion on July 1.

All three projects were foreign-funded and implemented under the Bridge Construction Replacement Project 1.

Tokwing’s two bridge projects in Aurora province, another in Zambales province and two in Pampanga province were also delayed, but the DPWH report did not say the causes.

Several bridge projects in Nueva Ecija were completed in 2016. These included the replacement of the Segium Bridge by the Pacific Concrete Products. The project was worth P149.240 million. —TONETTE OREJAS