NegOr municipal engineers attend training

Municipal engineers in Negros Oriental recently attended the training on construction safety and health for site safety officers at Hotel Elizabeth in Cebu City.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas organized the training in line with the implementation of its Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) project in the province.

Engr. Ronilo Gauma, Regional Infrastructure Assistant of DSWD, emphasized the importance of the safety training. Actual situations and procedures were presented to avoid accidents in the sites.

The system on ‘tool box meeting’ was also introduced. The system reminds the workers of their roles and assess their capability to work.

Gauma named three safety gears that a construction worker should wear — standard helmet, harness and rubber boots.

Communities in Negros Oriental are encouraged to construct the Kalahi-CIDSS projects by themselves instead of hiring another service provider, thereby generating local employment and lessening project cost.

The community projects are expected to be finished by the end of June this year. Most of the projects are done through a “bayanihan” scheme.

With one project already completed last March and turned over to the community, there are still 55 Kalahi-CIDSS projects being constructed in the different towns of Negros Oriental.

These projects include the construction of farm-to-market roads, water systems, footbridges, educational and health facilities, irrigation systems, solar driers and rainwater harvesters.

DSWD assistant regional director Nemia Antipala, in her closing remarks, reminded the engineers of their roles in the development of their respective community.

“As social engineers, your role is not only to provide technical expertise in constructing infrastructure facilities but also to create opportunities for communities to maximize their potentials and resources to drive the development process.”