A total of 410 road and bridge projects in Central Mindanao have been completed in Central Mindanao last year, the the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) announced on Thursday, March 24, as it vowed to complete more development projects this year.
DPWH Secretary Roger G. Mercado said that the completed projects last year were implemented by the agency’s regional office 12 and 10 district engineering offices (DEO) in the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos City (Soccsksargen).
Among the projects were the rehabilitation and widening of 115.07-kilometer of roads and 13 bridge projects, worth P168.94 million in total, to improve the lives of Central Mindanao residents.
Mercado said they also conducted 21 flood control projects to mitigate the destructive effects of water inundation brought by heavy rains and typhoons all over the region. It also provided a total of 27,616 jobs in Soccsksargen.
The DPWH also repaired, rehabilitated, and also constructed 448 national buildings and classrooms; hospitals and health facilities; military buildings; disaster-related rehabilitation projects; water supply and rain collector systems; market and slaughterhouses; public terminals; multi-purpose buildings used as barangay halls, gymnasiums, senior citizen buildings, and daycare centers; and other public infrastructure.
“We are hopeful that with the easing of community restrictions in the county, DPWH will be able to deliver in 2022. In the coming years, the 399 underway and 30 recently started infrastructure projects originally programmed in 2021 for Central Mindanaoans,” Mercado said.