MAASIN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Southern Leyte is eyeing to complete the construction and improvement of its new office building before the end of March.
DPWH Southern Leyte chief Ma. Margarita Junia said they are expediting works on the new district engineering office building and aims to transfer early of May this year.
“Our first plan was to transfer to our new office last year but since there were still some major improvement that needs to be done, I decided to reschedule our target. I wanted to complete the construction of our new office building first before opening it to the public,” Junia said.
The district office will be slowly transferring files and furniture to the new building starting April.
The two-storey building with floor area of 525 square meters is within 10,000 square meter Area Equipment Service compound in Ibarra village, this city.
The construction of the two-storey building is in compliance to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 and Department Order No. 81 issued on October 29, 2012, prescribing the location of offices, office space requirements, exterior design features and color scheme.
A total of P72 million budget was spent for the construction of the new office building, including improvement of area complex and the existing structures that are in need of repairs and beautification.
“As of now, there is an ongoing construction of covered path walk and wash rack as well as rehabilitation of the quality assurance building, motor pool, quarters, perimeter fence and electrical facilities,” Junia said.
She added the beautification and landscaping of the entire compound also continues.
The existing crowded office building of the DPWH-Southern Leyte District engineering office near the provincial capitol in Barangay Asuncion will not be demolished to maintain the DPWH’s presence near the provincial seat.
Junia pushed for the relocation of their office to increase the working area and ensure the safety of the workers since the province is vulnerable to ground shaking.
Based on the evaluation made by Bureau of Design, the existing district engineering office was found out to have a very low comprehensive strength and the core test results showed that the said building did not meet the minimum requirement for earthquake resistant structures. (PR)
