PALO, Leyte, (PNA) — Ghost projects are impossible in Eastern Visayas, an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways said, citing preliminary assessment report on the utilization of priority development assistance fund for infrastructure.
“There is no such thing as ghost projects in the region since roads and bridges are visible. People use it every day. They could easily report if a project does not exist,” said DPWH assistant regional director Edgar Tabacon.
He admitted, however, the worst thing that could happen to a project is failure of contractors to follow the standard.
“There could be substandard projects but we are trying to rectify that through regular inspection,” Tabacon said.
The DPWH has been consolidating all PDAF utilization reports submitted by the district engineering offices. This is to heed DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson’s order to assess past projects funded by PDAF.
“So far, we have not discovered any ghost projects,” he added. These projects funded by PDAF and DPWH regular budget have been checked by teams from the regional and central office,” he added.
For 2013, the region has 47 ongoing projects funded by congressmen’s PDAF. These are multi-purpose building, public market, classrooms, evacuation center, roads and bridges.
In a related development, Tabacon said that scrapping of PDAF will have a little impact in the DPWH project implementation.
“Although we need PDAF for emergency, there will be mechanisms that would be in placed to respond to the needs of road users,” he added.
With the call to abolish PDAF, lawmakers agreed to divide the P25.4-billion PDAF to various government agencies, with the DPWH getting the biggest share at P8.8 billion.