Benguet road upgrade on shaky ground
Several dialogues have been conducted between representatives of the company, affected residents and also representatives from different government line agencies as well as from the Benguet LGU
Several dialogues have been conducted between representatives of the company, affected residents and also representatives from different government line agencies as well as from the Benguet LGU
BAGUIO CITY — Following a closure order of the local government of Sablan in Benguet, the P286-million, four-kilometer Benguet road system upgrade seeking to ease the flow of farm products and other government services is in danger of being delayed.
Private construction firm PHESCO Inc. legal counsel Atty. Edward Raymund Palsiw revealed that the closure orders issued earlier by the Sablan town's former mayor Manuel Munar Jr. and recently by Mayor Alfredo Dacumos against the company's batching plant have been causing "delays" in the completion of the road system project.
The batching plant is critical in the delivery of concrete materials to the various sections of the project, according to Palsiw.
He added that no construction works have been done in almost four months despite the information that the company's batching plant with support facilities is covered by a Certificate of Non-Coverage from the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Cordillera.
Palsiw argued that the CNC issued to the company is classified as "resource extractive/mining and quarrying projects/mineral processing-batching and crushing plant-sand and gravel washing mobile to be operated."
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"The company's batching plant is mobile, and it will be removed once the project is finished," Palsiw said.
A number of residents in the area expressed support on the operation of the batching plant, pointing out that the construction of the road will have a great impact in transporting their agricultural products as well as medical needs and emergencies.
Dacumos' closure order issued on 28 September 2022 indicated violations such as operating without a business permit or mayor's permit; operating not within the industrial zone; and no objection letters from neighboring institutions, government facilities and residents were secured.
The local chief executive said that several dialogues have been conducted between representatives of the company, affected residents and also representatives from different government line agencies as well as from the Benguet LGU.
The Sablan mayor has called a dialogue set on 4 October to settle the issue via threshing out the cause of the delay in the project and the alleged lack of manpower of the private firm to undertake the project.
