BY GLENDA TAYONA and RHENJIE MAE CALANTAS
ILOILO City – The demand for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and its contractor to finish repairing the newly-built but defective P680-million Ungka flyover is snowballing.
Aside from the legislative bodies of both the city and provincial governments, Mayor Jerry P. Treñas and Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. are also badgering the DPWH.
Treñas wrote Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan inquiring about the status of the Ungka flyover and also that of the Aganan flyover project in Pavia town. He wanted the repair expedited.
The four-lane Ungka flyover was fully opened to public use on the first week of September but was closed to traffic on Sept. 18. It was found to be suffering from vertical displacement (subsidence or slumping).
“(It) need(s) to be rectified and made accessible immediately as its effects are pivotal to the flow of people and goods,” Treñas told Bonoan.
The repair should be round-the-clock but without compromising public safety, he stressed.
Defensor, on the other hand, vowed to make representations with DPWH “para mapadasig ang trabaho.”
The governor, however, emphasized that although many want the repair expedited, it is also important to make sure to zero in on the problem and the corresponding solution.
“Like the rest of the country and province, nagadali kita nga matapos ini but again importante nga matumbok anay kun ano gid ang diperensya kag ang husto nga solusyon,” he added.
Earlier, the Iloilo provincial board sought the intervention of the DPWH central office on the vertical displacement of the Ungka flyover.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan, during its regular session on Nov. 22, adopted the joint committee report of the committees on infrastructure, transportation, communication, and public utilities on the complaints relative to the Ungka flyover and passed four resolutions with regards to this.
One resolution requested the Bureau of Design under the DPWH central office to come up with a recommendation with all the geological circumstances factored in, and to assess the three other flyovers – Buhang and Jibao-an flyovers in Iloilo City and Aganan flyover – being constructed to ensure integrity and safety.
The Ungka flyover was built supposedly to ease traffic congestion in Barangay Ungka, Jaro district, especially during rush hours, and reduce travel time to the Iloilo Airport from the city to some 20 minutes only from the usual 40 to 45 minutes.
But with its temporary closure the traffic situation in the area has worsened. It slowed down the flow of vehicles and public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers are the most affected.
The drivers complained that the number of trips they make in a day has dropped, which in turn adversely affects their daily income.
“Sakto lang ni sa krudo ang income namon tungod sa traffic,” said 52-year-old Narciso Parcon, driver of a PUJ serving the Pavia, Iloilo./PN
