The municipality of Tuba, Benguet has asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to fast track the construction of the P246 million rockshed project at Camp 6, Kennon Road.
Mayor Clarita Sal-ongan said the residents especially the students and those working outside of the Kennon Road are hard up in commuting due to the road closure.
“We are appealing to the DPWH that hopefully the sentiment of our constituents would reach the agency,” Sal-ongan said.
The mountainside mitigation project at Camp 6 has a length of 151 meters and is being implemented by the DPWH regional office.
The project started this January and is targeted to be finished by January 2024 in a bid to mitigate the regular occurrence of rock fall and soil collapse.
Last May, the project was halted due to the collapse of its steel bars when it was hit by a landslide. Due to this, Kennon Road remains totally closed but with the exception of residents in the area.
Sal-ongan said the municipality is closely coordinating with the Tuba Municipal Police Station to discourage non-residents from pretending to be from Tuba in order to pass Kennon Road when going to the lowlands.
“We give consideration to residents of Kennon Road because it is hard to go around Marcos Highway or Naguilian or Asin Road to get to their residence,” she said.
Maj. Crispin Simon, Jr. of Tuba MPS said they are manning the area for 24 hours while the unit also set up a checkpoint at Camp 1 to bar any motorists from other areas in going up Baguio City through Kennon Road.
Vice Mayor Maria Carantes said the municipal council has set an offsite session at Camp 4 and invited the DPWH to discuss the ongoing construction and other concerns on Kennon Road in its regular session on Sept. 26. – Ofelia C. Empian
