SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Regional Development Council in Central Luzon will construct a quarry road along the Mega Dike in Pampanga exclusively for trucks carrying gravel and sand going to Metro Manila.
This would save millions of pesos for maintenance funds that can be utilized for the province’s development projects, the council said.
Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, chairman of RDC III, said the quarry road was agreed upon during a meeting of the council here with Severino Santos, regional director of National Economic and Development Authority as vice chairman of RDC, Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda, and second district Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Construction will start in 2018 upon approval of the RDC and Congress, Pamintuan said.
The megadike was constructed in 1996 after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, to protect residents from lahar and debris coming from the mouth of the volcano, especially during the rainy season.
With a total length of 56 kilometers, the P1.5-billion megadike was constructed in 1996. With two access road, the dike starts from Porac up to Minalin, with five exists in Angeles, Mabalacat, and San Fernando, Mexico and Sto. Domingo.
About 7,000 heavy dump trucks, mostly 12 to 18-wheelers, pass the various provincial roads 24/7 with their overweight loads that damage the pavement, especially the south lane going to Metro Manila that entails huge amounts for maintenance.
Pamintuan said in order to start the project immediately, the RDC will recommend a P20-million annual budget from the national government for the maintenance of the Sta. Cruz-Manibaug-Porac-Angeles City road as seed fund.
If the government lacks money, the mayor said they will invite Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp. to invest in the project through Private Public Partnership.
Gov. Pineda said the provincial government spends P100 million to maintain the provincial and municipal roads annually.
The construction of an alternate road “is the only way to save huge amounts of money for the annual maintenance of the provincial road, money that can be used for development projects of the province,” the governor said.
“These trucks can also cause accidents, traffic and noise pollution,” she added.
Armando Austria, provincial engineer of Pampanga, said a total of Php 421.9 million was released for the development projects for fiscal year 2017.
Austria said 80 percent of the budget will cover the construction of roads connecting the four districts that would boost tourism for the province, create elevated paths for wetland ecotourism, road canals, day care centers, multipurpose buildings, covered courts and school buildings.