'Kalsada Natin...' generates 1,367 employment-DPWH VI
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Western Visayas has employed 1,367 laborers all throughout Region VI under the program dubbed "Kalsada Natin, Alagaan Natin", and has contributed to the job generation program of the national government.
A total length of 2,847.29 kilometers of national roads in the region were covered by the "Kalsada Natin Alagaan Natin" program during the per iod January 2004 to July 2005. It had an allocation of P202,155,529.71, declared DPWH VI Director Rolando M. Asis during the PIA-CATV program aired over Cable Star Channel 15.
Director Asis said that "Kalsada Natin Alagaan Natin" was launched in January 2004 by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and this involves the roadside maintenance of national roads, sourced from the Motor Vehicle Users Charge Funds established by Republic Act 8794.
For every kilometer, Director Asis said, the roadside maintenance work force is composed of three males and one female. Their work includes vegetation control, distance mowing and clearing, de-silting/de-clogging of drainage structures, manual patching of unpaved shoulders, clearing of obstructions along the road right-of-way, manual reshaping of gravel/earth shoulders, cleaning of sidewalks, immediate response to calamities and planting, and maintenance of appropriate plants for slope protection and other uses.
"The Kalsada Natin Alagaan Natin is a successful program of President Arroyo because one of the objectives of the program is to generate jobs and we have successfully implemented and achieved well the program's goals and targets," Director Asis concluded. (T.Villavert/PIA)