Mayor asks DPWH chief to probe bridge project

DPWH Secretary Rogelio L. Singson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A mayor has asked Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson to investigate a bridge project in his town which he claimed has been delayed but paid like it has been nearly completed.

Mayor Democrito Diamante, of Tuburan town, claimed that the contractor, WTG Construction, declared the bridge to be 77 percent complete.

Based on records at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the contractor had been paid P27.3 million, or 77 percent of the project cost of P51.4 million, according to Diamante.

The mayor said an ocular inspection of the bridge would reveal that it was not even 10 percent complete.

He said when he checked on the project, he saw a riprap being built.

Daisy Toledo, DPWH district engineer, said the project was only “slow moving.”

She said the 77 percent accomplishment report referred to phase 1 of the Suba Bridge project, which included purchase of materials for the riprap, precast concrete test piles and steel bars.

The first phase, Toledo said, cost P35.4 million. The second phase would cost P16 million.

The new Suba Bridge, which is 40 meters long, is supposed to replace the old bridge that connects Barangays Daanglungsod and Uno in Tuburan town, about 96 km from here.