Leyte Burauen–Albuera road project gets more fund?

The Burauen–Albuera Road project will get P322 million in 2014, an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said. DPWH assistant regional director Edgar Tabacon said that P172 million will be used to construct bridges, while P150 million is needed to pave gravel roads and road opening activities next year.

“The road opening project is very costly since it stretches through mountains with steep slopes and rivers. Unstable soil built up also triggers landslide, hence disrupting construction activities,” Tabacon said. Of the 36.22 kilometers (km) road length, only 17.25 km. are concrete. Some 10.06 km. is gravel, and 8.43 km. is still not open. About 6.26 km of the road is still not passable in Albuera and 2.17 km in Burauen. Three bridges are up for construction in Burauen and one bridge in Albuera. “As of 2011 estimates, the road project requires additional funding of P1.19 billion. To include the 2014 allocation, the national government has already set aside P583 million. We still need P609 million to complete the project,” Tabacon said.

Laying of the link may be realized in 2016 for as long as the Central Government will pour out an average of P300 million every year, Tabacon added. For Albuera side alone, the National Government has already released P375 million from 2004 to 2013 which were spent for road opening. For Burauen side, some P161 million were allocated for the road project from 2011 up to this year. The DPWH regional office has no available data on the budget set aside for the 2nd district of Leyte prior to 2011. Earlier, Secretary Rogelio Singson ordered for a probe of the road project that is still not passable amid multi-million peso releases.

“The project appeared controversial because in documents, the title is opening of Burauen-Albuera road. It was not specified in documents that the budget for opening refers only to a small portion. We’re able to explain the real score of the project and I think the investigation team was able to understand,” Tabacon said. “The fact that the central office will release higher funding next year indicates that past allocations were not enough,” he added. The road aims to connect Leyte’s second biggest town of Burauen to Albuera in the western side of the province traversing rebel-infested villages.