ORMOC CITY – Government officials are touting that the six years of the Duterte administration is the golden age of Philippine infrastructure. The claim may well be true as 4th Leyte District Engineering Office (DEO) announced that at least P2.5 billion worth of infrastructure projects are earmarked for northwest Leyte in 2017.
The amount is the biggest allocation in 4th DEO’s history and is 228.5% more than the P700 million projects it implemented in 2016. District Engineer Lino Francisco Gonzales remarked that now is the best time to be in the construction business as he confirmed that the P2.5 billion is ready for release.
Gonzales enumerated the projects for implementation namely: Ormoc’s Pagsangahan River dredging and flood control, P500 million; the resumption of Albuera-Burauen Road, P245 million; Kananga-Ormoc-Albuera road widening, P350 million+; Ormoc-Merida-Palompon road widening, almost P200 million; off-carriageway improvement with drainage in various areas, P400 million+; various flood control projects, P250 million; and Local Infrastructure Projects, P60 million.
Gonzales adds that the R2.5 billion doesn’t include other funds that will be released by government agencies for the rest of the year. He cites as an example the schoolhouses planned to be built in 73 sites, the cost of which is still being evaluated by the Education Department.
