There were no ‘ghost’ projects found in the four flood control sites inspected by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Thursday.
ICI special adviser Rodolfo Azurin said this in an interview on the sidelines of the inspection with DPWH Usec. Arthur Bisnar in Ilocos Norte, the province of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
‘So far, it’s okay, because we saw that in the projects we went to, at least, no ghosts were seen,’ Azurin said in Filipino.
‘As for the standard, that’s what we’re going to violate now, and what the engineers will leave behind here; they’ll look at the other projects that they say have ghosts,’ he noted.
According to the ICI, the first site that the commission and DPWH inspected was located near Bongo Bridge, Nueva Era, where Azurin and Bisnar consulted two DPWH regional engineers about the project.
Azurin and Bisnar likewise evaluated a flood control project in the area of Sinigbit Creek, Nueva Era.
The third and fourth sites that the ICI and DPWH officials inspected were found in Vintar, Ilocos Norte. During this inspection, Vintar Mayor Richard Degala and District Engineer Glenn Miguel accompany Azurin and Bisnar.
The DPWH District Engineering Office said they will provide project plans and documentation of the said flood control projects to the ICI.
Bisnar likewise assured the ICI that the DPWH will provide full access to the agency’s investigation of the flood control projects.
‘This full access is not only at the central office, but also at our regional offices and then the district engineering offices,’ said Bisnar.
The ICI and DPWH are currently investigating multibillion-peso anomalous infrastructure projects across the country.