President Rodrigo Duterte has directed the public works department to immediately repair portions of the Olutanga-Alicia Road in Zamboanga Sibugay, an official said Sunday.
Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the President gave the order after seeing the photos taken by his agency which were posted on his Facebook page on Sept. 2.
“With just one communication from the Office of the President addressed to the Department of Public Works and Highways, road building equipment and machinery sprung into action,” Piñol said.
He said portions of the highway where vehicles were stuck for days due to deep mud were immediately repaired.
“In one week, it was completed,” Piñol added.
The 29-kilometer Olutanga-Alicia Highway is being constructed with a P900 million budget funded by the Asian Development Bank.
Piñol said it was awarded to a Zamboanga City-based construction company, M. Abubakar Construction and Engineering, which he added “was obviously ill-equipped to handle the project.”
He said even during the rainy season, the contractor scraped the whole stretch of the road, turning it into a muddy mess with vehicles stuck or falling by the side.
“When MinDA posted the photos following my visit to Olutanga last week, the contractor accused me of being unfair. They said the rains and the soil type were to be blamed for the mess,” he added.