Just get it done

THERE’S every reason to be impatient over the road works on major thoroughfares in Davao City by the Department of Public Works (DPWH) and the Davao City Water District (DCWD), especially that one just after Generoso Bridge in Bankerohan that seems to have been going on forever.

The Department of Public Works and Highways has been replete with excuses for the contractors, including rain – which incidentally just happened the past week while we have had a really hot and dry season for several weeks before that. The excuse that the contractor is just allowed to work from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. is also not a valid excuse because that period is eight hours, which actually is the length of a normal working day.

Earlier this month, Engr. Milagros Delos Reyes of DPWH told the City Council that it is having difficulty finishing its road works because of existing drainage and pipelines of the DCWD.

Any engineer worth his salt will ask for the existing layout first before attacking any project. Even before starting on the project, the contractors should have already known that there are water and other utility lines down there. Admitting that this is slowing them down only means they were not giving due diligence to the task they were given.

Looking back, it’s not the weather nor the work time. It’s the contractor, and there is every reason as well for the city government to start wielding the whip.

True, this is all for the benefit of Dabawenyos, but dragging on a project for so long just does not have any place in a government that has change as its battlecry.

From the rants and rave of people living in the south who work downtown, traffic has worsened by the day such that it will take an hour just to traverse Ateneo to Bankerohan or Ecoland to Bolton Bridge.

Davao City Administration Zuleika Lopez is pondering on closing Bankerohan for the duration just to hurry things up.

“Baka pwede isara muna ang buong Bankerohan since wala naman pasok and it is a long weekend so they could work 24 hours. We will re-group them and have information dissemination for a one-time, big-time operation,” Lopez said.

But, with the way the contractor has been responding to reminders to finish the job, are the residents even assured that the contractors are capable of a one-time big-time operation or will the rain be once again be a convenient excuse?

We’re glad the city government is just as impatient as the people. Now, the people can only wish that the DPWH and DCWD understand this impatience and work fast to finally do their share in lessening the inconvenience they have caused the public for months now.