COA questions town’s P2.5-M box culvert

By: Gerome Dalipe

THE Commission on Audit (COA) questioned the construction of a P2.5-million concrete box culvert at Brgy. Binangbang Barrio, Barbaza, Antique province.

In their annual audit report for 2018, the state auditors said the taxpayers’ money was not fully utilized since there were no road links in the location where the reinforced concrete box culvert was constructed.

Likewise, the volume of traffic is minimal, thus rendering the immediacy of the project questionable, the auditors said.

“(Antique Capitol) should have prioritized the construction of structures that are responsive to the identified needs of the project beneficiaries, such as the footbridges and concrete roads within the area,” read the COA report.

Sec. 2 of Presidential Decree 1445, or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, provides that all resources of the government shall be managed, expended or utilized in accordance with the law.

The audit team conducted an ocular inspection and what caught their attention was the construction of a reinforced concrete box culvert in Brgy. Binangbang Barrio, Barbaza.

The auditors also checked the approved project proposal document from the Provincial Planning and Development Office.

They discovered that the project should have been intended to ease the burden of the commuters in transporting their produce to the market.

The target beneficiaries of the project are the residents and commuters passing through the road.

The project proposals were to provide an easy and unhampered route of travel to the residents, commuters, farmers, and all sorts of transportation to the interior barangays.

The project also aimed at lessening the high cost and burden of the farmers in transporting their products to the town proper and to speed up the mobility of trade and commerce in the locality.

But an ocular inspection conducted by the audit team showed that the drainage structure was constructed on a creek with no road links, rendering the apparent immediate need for the project questionable.

The box culvert project is of a considerable distance from the main concrete road links.

Thus, the area is also in need of other developments such as the construction of concrete farm to market roads and other appropriate structures in order to achieve an easy and unhampered route of travel by residents, commuters, farmers and all sorts of transportation.

Likewise, the auditors noted that Brgy. Binangbang Barrio has a total population of only 201 as of 2015 Census of Population.

Therefore, the culvert box was not being fully utilized as the volume of traffic is very minimal.

The project in-charge disclosed that no provision of funds was made for the construction of road links.

In the report, the auditors asked the Provincial Government to explain why they prioritized the project instead of other structures.

Likewise, the Provincial Government should take appropriate action on the provision of funds for the construction of road links to the structure.