P159-million road project in Dumaguete stalls

The completion of the P159-million road and bridge project connecting Cadawinonan in Dumaguete City to Magatas in the next town of Sibulan will be further delayed if lot and home owners opposed to the project will stand their ground and refuse to vacate their places. 

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) had already allowed the extension of the completion date of the project from June this year to August.

However, if the owners continue to oppose this project, the revised completion date of the project on August 24, 2017 may not be met.

Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, together with representatives from the DPWH, barangay and PhilSouth Builders, contractor for the project, has already negotiated with “recalcitrant” owners to abandon their homes so that the long-delayed multi-million peso government infrastructure project can move ahead.

It was learned that some of the owners who had earlier opposed the project have already agreed to relocate, while a number of them still refuse to receive the payment offered them so the project can continue.

The bridge and road construction project is part of the Metro Dumaguete diversion road that would include the construction of a five-meter high Banica Bridge linking the barangays of Candau-ay and Cadawinonan to Junob, Dumaguete City.

To be called the Banica Bridge 3, this bridge will reduce the risk of flood waters inundating several housing communities along the banks of the Banica River, especially in Candau-ay and Cadawinonan.