Kidapawan execs order completion of long-delayed road project

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines – Irate local officials on Wednesday gave until next week a private contractor to finish a long-delayed P20 million highway widening project in the city.

Members of the city council had told reporters the Llaban Construction and Supplies should have completed in October 2015 yet the widening of strategic stretches here of the Cotabato-Davao Highway.

A member of the city council, engineer Peter Salac, said the delayed completion of the project had caused setbacks in the local economy and endangers commuters and motorists.

Among the technical faults of the construction firm was to finish on time the concreting of the widened portion of the highway which connects to a concrete bridge in Barangay Saguing here.

A motorist was killed on January 1 when his motorcycle plunged into the river underneath the bridge due to lack of luminous road signs and safety devices needed to preclude accidents.

Local officials have blamed the construction firm for the accident.

Engineer Elpidio Birog of North Cotabato’s first District Engineering Office said they will ban the construction firm from participating in any project bidding if it cannot finish the P20 million road widening project within a week starting Wednesday.