P15.5M culvert project in ARMM awarded to private contractor

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The public works department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Thursday awarded to a private contractor a P15.5-million culvert project for a perennially flooded stretch of the Narciso Ramos Highway linking  Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

The recurring accumulation of rainwater at the portion of the highway in between two slopes at the border of Matanog, Maguindanao and Kapatagan, Lanao del Sur already left one side of the thoroughfare heavily scoured, posing a serious traffic hazard.

Engineer Emil Sadain, regional secretary of the ARMM’s Department of Public Works and Highways, said the construction of the concrete box culvert, to prevent further damage to the highway and inconvenience to motorists and commuters, will be undertaken by the BAMEC Developer, a local engineering firm.

The project was officially awarded through a negotiated bid to the BAMEC Developer during an informal contract signing rite at the ARMM compound in Cotabato City Thursday.

ARMM Gov. Hataman also signed in the contract, processed under the supervision of representatives from the Commission on Audit and officials of different civil society organizations.

“It was a negotiated bid because of time essence. The project has to be implemented right away,” stated a written communiqué from the DPWH-ARMM distributed to reporters after the contract signing.

Sadain said the P15.5 million budget for the project will  be drawn from the P126 million  the DPWH-ARMM had earlier saved from projects and operating funds in recent months due to the stringent handling of the agency’s coffer by the Hataman administration.

Hataman said community leaders residing around the project site will be tapped to help monitor the construction of the box culvert.

Maranaw and Maguindanaon traders have earlier complained of losing millions worth of supposedly taxable earnings due to the frequent accumulation of floodwaters in the area where the box culvert is to be built.

The problem had caused the repeated suspension in past months of the transport of farm products to trading centers in different areas in Central Mindanao from the towns where the complaining Moro merchants operate.