PIA Feature: Broken Bridge, Broken Promises
by Dabie Babao
Davao City (31 January) -- The warmth of humid air and the discomfort bothering a passenger inside a running jeepney is never-ending. Every morning these people are being delayed for their daily work because of the broken bridge months have passed.
It was during the early part of last year's election when the five-decade old Bankerohan Bridge (aka Gov. Generoso Bridge) collapsed. It has been reported that the budget for the damaged bridge is P206 million pesos. The bridge will be expected to be fixed hopefully this August 2008.
Junichi Dan Ross Miyake, a student studying in Ateneo de Davao University, said that the traffic every morning did worst for his schedule since it gave hassle things like waking up earlier in the morning and sometimes being forced to take a taxi for him not to be late for his class. As a student, taxi is not on the budget. His allowance is good for his meals and meriendas for school, not to mention the photocopies and other fees in school.
Jeepney drivers are also not happy with the government's promises since they cannot see any improvements or even actions of starting the bridge.
Not only that, the residents from Southern area are being inconvenienced by the traffic jams along McArthur Highway in Matina and Quirino avenues in the downtown area and at Quimpo Boulevard, near Sandawa and Bolton Bridge. forcing some motorists from the south to take the Diversion Road.
The question is who are to be blamed? When the bridge collapsed the government promised that within 8 months the bridge will be fixed. Now, could anyone in the city passing by the bridge ever saw development of it? The answer is none. No changes from the day it collapsed up to now.
From the different people, they are hoping for a development which is almost a year now. The bridge is a big help in the city because of the increasing numbers of vehicles. Their voices are needed to be heard. They even call our city as the most livable city but what happened here is, a crash. (ADDU/PIA)
3 comments:
Peter, can we have some action? The council seems busy denying one development proposal after another that it makes me wonder, are we in the same town? Or am I in another planet? I suggest that the next council session be held at the bridge site.
My mole said that the reason why no major activity is happening in the bridge construction is because Ciriaco's barge which should have docked last Sunday at Km 11 conked at sea, at Cotabato area. DPWH got word that it was just fixed and is expected to arrive tomorrow. This barge is bringing the materials from Manila. This early, DPWH has shown it could not control a lot of things already. How much more in the future. if you have read the press statement of DPWH Central Office you would think that what they meant by "joint implementation with DPWH XI" is equal sharing of responsibilities. My mole said that this is not true. DPWH XI will just be limited to monitoring. CO will still be the main implementor. Worse, the CO people are not coordinating with DPWH XI. They just come and go. Poor regional office because they have to answer all the queries and receive all the criticisms which should have been thrown to the CO.If there is anyway that you can raise this issue on the national level, then take the chance. The CO which is responsible for this matter is not feeling the anger of Davao. Make them responsible for it. You can address it to the secretary or Undersecretary Rafael Yabut.
Hi Councilor Peter,
Great work on this blogging for for project monitoring.
I'm now part of the Social Watch network and we are looking for a Davao-based partner to help monitor the flow of resources from DOH national, all the way to the cities and municipalities. Might you be able to refer anyone?
I build on your bankerohan blog concept in my blog http://blog.thinklab.com.ph/2008/02/01/citizenjuandelacruzcom/
Elmer
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