Benguet caretaker congressman, Eric Yap, warned the public works department and contractors not to bastardize the implementation of infrastructure projects in the different parts of the province because he will go after those responsible for the misuse of public funds by prosecuting substandard works.
Yap, who chairs the powerful House committee on appropriations, stated that he has still 3 months remaining as the province’s legislative caretaker and that he will not tolerate any attempt by the DPWH and erring contractors to simply implement substandard infrastructure projects at the expense of the welfare of the people who are supposed to benefit from the priority development projects in their places.
He pointed out that he will not hesitate to hunt down public works officials who will tolerate the implementation of substandard projects and contractors who will be prosecuting defective projects for them to be appropriately charged for them to face the consequences of their questionable works that deprive the public of supposed quality projects.
The lawmaker claimed that Congressman Yap stipulated that he will not hesitate to investigate the quality of projects that had been implemented by the public works department and the contractors to allay the perception of the public that the said projects are reportedly substandard and to erase the impression that he is tolerating the questionable works of the project implementers.
According to him, there had been numerous reports on the alleged substandard workmanship of rock netting and other similar infrastructure projects in the different parts of the province that is why the same is now the subject of validation by his office in close coordination with the public works department.
Yap emphasized that the public works department and the assigned contractors should not bastardize the implementation of projects because it will be the people that will suffer the negative effect of having poor quality projects in their places when in fact, the very purpose of such projects is to help improve the state of infrastructure in the countryside that is why government is infusing funds to develop roads leading to rural communities.
Congressman Yap explained that for the projects that will be implemented in the province this year funded by the 2022 annual budget, he made sure that more funds will be earmarked for road opening projects to ensure that economic activities and other sources of livelihood of the people will be enhanced because of the accessibility of the rural areas that will pave the way for easier movement of the people from one place to another.
He welcomed the reports from the people on the ground on the way the public works department and the contractors are implementing government-funded infrastructure projects so that corrective measures could already be done while the projects are undergoing implementation to ensure good workmanship that will ensure the completion of quality projects beneficial to the greater welfare of the majority of the people in the countryside. (RPN DZBS Baguio News Team)
