THE Department of Public Works and Highways announced on Thursday it has formed a team tasked to monitor the construction stage of big projects to ensure their completion on time and prevent irregularities.
The team, dubbed Infrastructure Monitoring Advisory Groups (IMAGs), will enable participatory and transparent monitoring during construction stage of big-ticket projects and will be composed of a regional director, district engineer, chief executives of local government unit where the project is located, project consultant and project contractor.
Public Works chief information officer Randy del Rosario said representatives from the business group; utilities companies affected; religious groups; civil society organizations; media; Philippine National Police; LGU traffic management group; Armed Forces of the Philippines command officer; professional groups; and representatives of national government agencies concerned will also form part of the group.
The team shall conduct regular forums to report progress of project implementation, along with problems encountered and shall come up with needed solutions.
It shall also function as the source of advisories and logistics to facilitate implementation of projects, especially in dealing with informal settler families (ISFs) in road right-of-way concerns.
“Engaging stakeholders for support and cooperation is DPWH’s way to guarantee project implementation’s strict compliance with standards and to ensure that projects will be serviceable as soon as possible,” said Del Rosario.
“From then on, the public can expect that the team will work on efficient implementation of major roads, bridges, and flood control projects all over the country,” he added.
Meanwhile, the department has completed the upgrading works of 16-kilometer Dinadiawan-Casiguran section of Baler-Casiguran Road, which leads to Casapsapan Beach.
Baler-Casiguran Road is a national road located in the mid-eastern coast of Luzon in the province of Aurora and is of strategic importance in the country’s arterial road network.
The improved road will further boost the tourism industry of Casiguran, as well as other parts of Aurora as it will further strengthen the access to the town of Baler where the province’s primary economic development and emergency centers are located.
A total of P231 million was allocated by the DPWH for the completion of the tourism road project.