Mayor says bridge delay costing P30M in losses

CALUMPIT, Bulacan—A 10-month delay in the replacement of Calumpit Bridge has cost this town’s business community and that of Apalit town in Pampanga province up to P30 million in lost opportunities, Mayor Jessie de Jesus said.

The dilapidated bridge on the Manila North Road (formerly MacArthur Highway) connects Calumpit, the last town in the northwest side of Bulacan province, to Apalit.

The bridge’s concrete replacement was originally scheduled for completion this month, but its contractor was provided a new design and work plan for the P166-million project by the Department of Public Works and Highways that would reset the completion date to September, according to records.

The contractor, Wing An Construction and Development Corp., had complained about steel parts of the old bridge that could not be dismantled within the original timeframe.

“About a third of what we should have earned on the months Calumpit Bridge was closed is lost, and we will continue to lose potential revenues until September,” De Jesus said.

He cited his family’s hospital, which lost half of its patients from Apalit, because the bridge had been inaccessible to ambulances and vehicles since July 2013.

Traders from Calumpit and Apalit now use motorized boats that also affect prices of goods, he said.

De Jesus said he would raise the matter to the Central Luzon Regional Development Council, now chaired by Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado.

De Jesus said they had also complained about the condition of a hanging footbridge, built by Wing An, which allows residents to cross to Apalit.

“Motorcycle riders have been angry at me when I prevented them from carrying their bikes across the footbridge. I made it a strict rule not to allow them because we are not that confident about the condition of the footbridge,” he said. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon