Shortage of workers, contractors delay completion of school buildings

A shortage of skilled workers and contractors delayed the completion of public school building projects in Central Visayas, the regional Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) said Tuesday.

Based on a report by the Department of Education regional office (DepEd-7) 3,102 classrooms were earmarked in Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor but only 1,291 had been completed in time for the opening of classes.

Construction of 1,604 others remains ongoing while the rest have yet to be implemented. A budget of P5.261 billion had been allocated for the projects.

“We have coordinated already with DepEd two weeks before the start of class. Part of the problem is the delay on the release of funds. Hopefully this will be addressed because we really lack on manpower,” regional DPWH-7 director Ador Canlas said.

DepEd-7 regional director Juliet Jeruta said they are implementing guidelines to ensure that construction of school buildings will be completed on time.

“We implemented liquidation damages upon completion of the project, wherein contractors are fined based on the number of days on the delay of the project,” Jeruta said.

Jeruta said they are experiencing delays on the hiring of teachers due to the recently concluded barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on May 14. This year, DepEd-7 is hiring more than 6,000 public school teachers.