‘Release P197 M for Pangasinan bridge’

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — Gov. Victor Agbayani is asking the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to release the remaining P197 million for the completion of the P740.52-million, 18-span Domalandan Bridge which connects this town to western Pangasinan.

"We are hoping that instead of the yearly allocation, we have to finish it in one year because after all, the funds are given yearly. Why not give it all next year because if you don’t do that, by 2007 the cost will be different again," Agbayani told engineer Fidel Ginez, DPWH regional director, during the Regional Development Council meeting here last Thursday.

The bridge project, started sometime in 2002, is stalled every time the available fund is exhausted, he lamented.

When President Arroyo went to Rosales town last Saturday, Ginez said she reminded him not to forget to include the P100-million allocation for the bridge project in the proposed DPWH budget for next year. — Eva Visperas