CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Mayor Edwin Santiago of this city on Wednesday, June 1, called for the suspension of ongoing Balimbing Bridge widening works being undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Central Luzon.
Santiago made the statement during a special meeting attended by volunteer engineer Marni Castro, who represented the private sector, DPWH-Central Luzon representative engineer Arnold Ocampo and councilors Harvey Quiwa and Tino Dizon.
During the meeting, Castro presented to government officials the unnecessary construction of a platform in the middle of the creek which now causes garbage and trash to accumulate and clog the waterway.
He pointed at the outfall drainage of several establishments along Jose Abad Santos Avenue (JASA) positioned at Balimbing Creek which was also blocked by the construction of the craneway platform.
Castro said that the whole set up is the reason behind the flash flood that transpired along JASA on May 22, and continues to threaten the major thoroughfare and establishments with the presence of the platform.
In line with this, Santiago said that he already coordinated with the DPWH-Central Luzon to immediately suspend their activities under the bridge to avoid further damage and inconvenience.
“’Yung project na ‘yan is actually intended for road widening to address traffic. ‘Yun nga lang inabutan ng tag-ulan at mas concern natin ngayon na maiwasan ang pagbaha sa mga major highways natin like JASA that is why we requested for the immediate suspension of works there,” he explained.
Santiago said that the DPWH-Central Luzon vowed to finish their supposed task this coming weekend and dismantle the platform by June 7.
He relayed that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has already committed to the DPWH-Central Luzon to cut electricity flowing on the high tension wires to give way to the construction.
“Tatapusin daw nila ngayon weekend and then ‘yung remaining weekdays is for dismantling. Hopefully magawa talaga ‘yun dahil this is an urgent matter and we are not allowing anymore delay,” Santiago said.