By Nestor L. Abrematea
Catbalogan City, Samar – A contractor is blaming the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the delay in the implementation of a water system project in a Samar town.
Rubien Manuel Hicaron of E.C Laforteza Construction, said the project for Villareal town, funded by the Department of the Interior and Local Governments (DILG) in Eastern Visayas, is way behind schedule because the DPWH Samar 2nd Engineering District took seven months to issue an excavation permit for it.
Hicaron said the permit was only released last April, when in fact the application was submitted to the DPWH last August.
"The implementation of the water system project of the DILG in Villareal town is much delayed and the people of Villareal are affected because we are late in our project implementation," he said.
It also took the DPWH Regional Office in Palo, Leyte, two months to process the permit and when it was returned to Samar, it was mistakenly sent to another division.
Hicaron asked the help of the members of the Civil Society Organizations and local media in Samar and Tacloban City to have the delay investigated by the concerned government agencies and the responsible officials held accountable.