U.S.-funded Samar road provides 1,700 jobs

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 5): U.S.-funded Samar road provides 1,700 jobs

The US$ 214.4 million - funded road project connecting Samar and Eastern Samar has generated 1,700 jobs as of last month, the Millennium Challenge Account Philippines (MCA-P) reported.

In a July 2013 report, MCA-P said that of the number of employed persons by the road rehabilitation project, 1,222 of them or 73 percent are from the local communities. At least 178 of them are women.

MCA-P Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Marivic Añonuevo said jobs created in construction are just one of the positive impacts of the project.

MCA-P, the Philippine entity tasked to manage US Compact projects assured that in hiring workers, there’s zero tolerance for child labor and strict observance of high standard of occupational safety.

These workers are engaged in road clearing, pipe installation, drainage construction, traffic control, grubbing, road signs installation, road concreting and other road rehabilitation activities.

As of end of July 2013, 10 percent or 22.4 kilometers of the 222-kilometers road project from Paranas, Samar to Guiuan, Eastern Samar has been upgraded already.

Contract package (CP) 1, which involves the upgrading of 16.36 kilometers road and two bridges in Paranas town, has started October 2012. The P808-million partnerships is a partnership of DM Consunji Inc. & CM Pancho Construction Inc, the only all Filipino-owned consortium among four road segments.

Under CP3, 11.53 kilometers of the road surface have been applied with asphalt. The third contract, which was awarded September 2012, is a 64.58-kilometers long of highway from the boundary Sulat and San Julian towns to the border of Balangkayan and Llorente towns.

The P2.45 billion road segment also includes rehabilitation of 11 bridges and reconstruction of six others. It is a joint venture of Qingjian Group Co. Ltd. and Mac Builders.

For CP4, MCA-P and contractors Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp. and Yakal Construction have signed a deal on April for the rehabilitation of 77.5 kilometers of existing road.

The P2.2 billion project package cuts through the towns from Llorente to Guiuan will rehabilitate 14 bridges.

Chinese firm Qingjian Group Co. Ltd. has started this month the civil works for CP 2, which is the biggest of the four segments of the Secondary National Roads Development Project (SNRDP).

The P2.5 billion contract will upgrade 63.78 kilometers highway from Hinabangan in Samar to the boundary of Sulat and San Julian in Eastern Samar. Also included is the rehabilitation of 20 bridges reconstruction of five others.

The project involves the rehabilitation of existing roads and bridges that includes widening, drainage installation and other road safety improvements.

The SNRDP requires the biggest chunk of the 434 million dollar grant from the US government. It aims to rehabilitate the 222-kilometer road connecting Samar and Eastern Samar province and improve the road condition in one of the country’s poorest provinces.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=551558