23 September 2005
DPWH PUTTING ONE OVER CITY?: BSL hits ceiling on diverted road
By DANNY O. SAGUN
DAGUPAN City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim has scored the public works and highways department for deviating from the original plan in the construction of the Dawel-Pantal-Lucao diversion road.
An irked Lim met Thursday with DPWH regional officials in his office to relay his concern noting that some P80 million additional expenses will be incurred if the original plan is not followed.
The original plan was to link the new road to the De Venecia highway in barangay Lucao passing right beside the posh Nelars subdivision, Lim said.
He said that the road, under its present revised status will instead pass thru the back portion of the CIS city mall and link up with the Mac Arthur highway adjacent to the present police community precinct in Lucao, some 500 meters west of the De Venecia highway.
Lim showed to newsmen a satellite photo of the ongoing construction to prove his point.
“Nothing personal,” he stressed in anticipation of possible reaction about his motive in raising the issue before DPWH and the media. It is widely known that his family’s mall business, Magic, is up against a stiff competitor, the CSI chain of malls being run by former Councilor Belen Fernandez whose crown area is in barangay Lucao.
Fernandez might have had a hand in altering the original plan in view of reports that she has donated some properties traversed by the roadline. It was very possible, sources at City Hall said, that the DPWH planners accommodated her request to have the new road instead pass thru the back of her mall in Lucao, instead of at the NelArs subdivision where it would already directly link to the present De Venecia highway.
The DPWH representatives led by engineer Yolly Tangco washed their hands off the matter, telling the mayor that the regional office had not been in any way involved in the preparation of the plans.
Lim warned he might go to court if the original plan which was shorter and cheaper for government is nor pursued.
The project, divided in six work phases, costs some P400 million including the construction of two short bridges. Excluded in the funds is the construction of a long bridge. Road preparation like filling and embankment are already completed in the Dawel area and ongoing in the Pantal and Lucao portions, according to second Pangasinan engineering chief Rodolfo Dion. The road, when finished, spans about four kilometers starting from the Dawel area up to Lucao.
A study by the city government would have Phase II of the diversion road directly exiting through De Venecia highway via the DNR property, or a road length of some 800 meters, or thru NELARS’s subdivision, with a length of only 650 meters—compared to the 2,950-meter distance if the road is extended to the Bautista road to connect to De Venecia highway.
An additional P80 million will have to be released to cover in part payment of right-of-way for properties affected by the project, it was learned. In exculpating his office from the possible complications brought about by Lim’s opposition, Dion said his office’s role was only to monitor the project.
Timetable for its completion is set by late 2007, he said.
DAGUPAN City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim has scored the public works and highways department for deviating from the original plan in the construction of the Dawel-Pantal-Lucao diversion road.
An irked Lim met Thursday with DPWH regional officials in his office to relay his concern noting that some P80 million additional expenses will be incurred if the original plan is not followed.
The original plan was to link the new road to the De Venecia highway in barangay Lucao passing right beside the posh Nelars subdivision, Lim said.
He said that the road, under its present revised status will instead pass thru the back portion of the CIS city mall and link up with the Mac Arthur highway adjacent to the present police community precinct in Lucao, some 500 meters west of the De Venecia highway.
Lim showed to newsmen a satellite photo of the ongoing construction to prove his point.
“Nothing personal,” he stressed in anticipation of possible reaction about his motive in raising the issue before DPWH and the media. It is widely known that his family’s mall business, Magic, is up against a stiff competitor, the CSI chain of malls being run by former Councilor Belen Fernandez whose crown area is in barangay Lucao.
Fernandez might have had a hand in altering the original plan in view of reports that she has donated some properties traversed by the roadline. It was very possible, sources at City Hall said, that the DPWH planners accommodated her request to have the new road instead pass thru the back of her mall in Lucao, instead of at the NelArs subdivision where it would already directly link to the present De Venecia highway.
The DPWH representatives led by engineer Yolly Tangco washed their hands off the matter, telling the mayor that the regional office had not been in any way involved in the preparation of the plans.
Lim warned he might go to court if the original plan which was shorter and cheaper for government is nor pursued.
The project, divided in six work phases, costs some P400 million including the construction of two short bridges. Excluded in the funds is the construction of a long bridge. Road preparation like filling and embankment are already completed in the Dawel area and ongoing in the Pantal and Lucao portions, according to second Pangasinan engineering chief Rodolfo Dion. The road, when finished, spans about four kilometers starting from the Dawel area up to Lucao.
A study by the city government would have Phase II of the diversion road directly exiting through De Venecia highway via the DNR property, or a road length of some 800 meters, or thru NELARS’s subdivision, with a length of only 650 meters—compared to the 2,950-meter distance if the road is extended to the Bautista road to connect to De Venecia highway.
An additional P80 million will have to be released to cover in part payment of right-of-way for properties affected by the project, it was learned. In exculpating his office from the possible complications brought about by Lim’s opposition, Dion said his office’s role was only to monitor the project.
Timetable for its completion is set by late 2007, he said.
