The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will complete within five to six months the ongoing segment and collapsed sections of the Metro Cebu Expressway (MCE) in Naga City, Cebu.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon said Wednesday the 4.55-kilometer expressway segment has been stalled for eight years since construction began in 2018 due to slow implementation.

“As I have repeatedly said in the past weeks, these long-delayed projects must now be completed. And this MCE here in Cebu is one example of that repeated problem in DPWH. It’s only 4 kilometers, very short, and yet after 8 years it is still not finished,” Dizon said during his inspection of the project.

“We really have to change the way we do things. Because the problem here is the residents and the workers at the Minebea factory. Around 4,000 workers from Cebu go here every day and pass this road daily, and they’ve been waiting for years for it to be finished,” he added.

The secretary ordered the deployment of additional equipment and DPWH personnel to ensure the project is completed within the set timeline and before the rainy season.

DPWH also said it is ready to assist in speeding up the implementation of the larger portion of the MCE being handled by the Cebu Provincial Government.