Manila – Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Monday (Sept. 20) expressed full support to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) which earlier questioned the ‘indiscriminate construction’ of concrete islands in the middle of national highways in Mindanao, especially on the Davao-Cotabato Highway.
Sen. Dela Rosa said he agrees with the position of MinDA that in these times of crisis, government funds should be judiciously used, instead of building center islands in the middle of the highways which do not have any functional relevance.
During the virtual Sub-Committee Cluster C Budget Hearing, the committee chair on Finance said he is one with Secretary Emmanuel Piñol as they share the view that the said islands along the highway are unnecessary structures using billions of precious government funds.
“Please tell Secretary Piñol that I am with him in this opposition. I just hope that the proponents of that project will be enlightened. It would have been more spacious and it would have been better to look if there was really no island. The traffic flow is very smooth without that,” dela Rosa added.
He added that the purpose of the island might be for beautification or safety reasons but he admitted that “he doesn’t see the strategic relevance” of the projects.
“Ako gumagamit talaga ako ng highway na iyan every now and then, Davao to Cotabato. Instead of constructing islands, napakahaba na highway na yan. Pwede naman tayong gumawa ng isang common na crossing point along that highway. Gumawa tayo ng pedestrian overpass but kung gagawa ka ng island buong streets ng Cotabato to Davao mas malaki ang gastos niyan diba,” dela Rosa added.
Earlier, Piñol said MinDA’s official inquiry on the construction of the concrete islands costing millions in government funds will be focused on their functional relevance to the flow of traffic or road safety, the standards or criteria used in determining which portions of the national highways should have a concrete island, the agency of government funding the construction of the concrete islands and the allocation for the program, or were these islands part of the essential projects for the socio-economic development of Mindanao.
“If so, which agency of government identified it as such? Lastly, did the Regional Development Council, which by law is the processing and clearinghouse of all development projects, identify and endorse the projects for funding,” Piñol added.
He bared that the official MinDA inquiry is addressed to the DPWH Secretary since all infrastructure projects, regardless of funding sources, are implemented by the agency.
“I pointed out that the construction of the concrete islands in the middle of the national highway eats up at least one lane thus defeating the road widening program of the government. Most of all, it is my personal observation that the concrete islands do not have any beneficial function and the funds could be used for the repair and construction of other critical roads leading to agricultural production areas,” the MinDA chief added.
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