Erring contractors identified, but just reprimanded

BAGUIO CITY—Contractors blamed for delayed repairs of national roads last year have been identified and reprimanded, a Department of Public Works and Highways official said on Monday.

Two government-accredited firms are under investigation, although they have not been blacklisted because they are involved in other government projects, said Ireneo Gallato, Baguio district engineer.

Local officials had promised to crack down on underperforming contractors in November when complaints started to pile up over delayed road projects here.

Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan, chair of the House committee on public works, said he had scheduled this month a series of meetings with DPWH and all government-accredited contractors to hear their side on a proposal to bar poor performing contractors from future projects.

Because of a review of scheduled road projects in 2011, many road projects in the Cordillera, Tarlac and the Ilocos began simultaneously during the rainy season last year.

Most of the projects involved road paving and laying of new drainage systems. Many were completed only in December.

Gallato said a contractor was chastised for sharing equipment with another contractor, which explained some delays.

In November, motorists observed that some equipment used in one stretch of a Baguio street were later used in a project in another part of the city where work had stopped for days. Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon