Infra projects must be scrutinized-Calizo

Councilor Romeo V. Calizo asked his colleagues to scrutinize various infrastructure projects implemented by the national government here in the city.

The councilor made such comment as a reaction to the special report of Councilor Reuben R. Daba yesterday during the 68th regular session of the 18th City Council presided over by Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy.

In his special report, Councilor Daba asked his colleagues to pass a resolution urging the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to allow the local government to put up public facilities on the no-build-zones on both sides of the Cagayan de Oro River starting from Isla Baksan all the way to Rotunda.

The area is designated as easement for the construction of government facilities in accordance with the provisions in Article 51 of Presidential Decree No. 1067, the councilor said.

Councilor Calizo observed that there are a lot of national projects specifically those that have been implemented by DPWH that did not provide solutions to the numerous problems in the city.

As an example of this is the inefficient traffic engineering which causes not only the worst traffic problems during disasters such as floods, but also jeopardizes the lives and properties of the residents.

“So my suggestion and I highly recommend that we need to scrutinize the project of the DPWH and JICA because as of now, without scrutiny, we cannot seek any assurance from them that indeed after the completion of a project, there’s no more lives that will be lost, there’s no more properties that will be damaged. So, this matter must be referred to the committee of the whole because it involves saving lives and properties and our dear city,” the councilor stressed. (JAO)