Bohol commits P3.6M for

Choco HIlls access repair

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA)—To the urgency of the necessary repair of a damaged section of the Chocolate Hills access road, the Provincial Government has committed some P3.6 million as its share for the P6.3 million for the repair and rehabilitation of the damaged paved roads at the base of the access road leading to the Chocolate Hills viewdeck in Carmen.

This as provincial Administrator Aster Caberte shared that the local government unit of Carmen has also allocated some P3 million for the needed infrastructure rehabilitation project that would take 81 calendar days to finish.

“Since we heard that the LGU Carmen is allocating P3 million for the repair, the Provincial Government is committing to the P3.6 million to complete the fund requirement on the rehabilitation,” PA Caberte said during the last quarter full council meeting of the Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council, December 9, at the Ceremnial Hall of the Capitol.

The past rains brought by three consecutive typhoons in Tino, Uwan and Verbena has deteriorated the paved roads which were decades old and were built considering that the traffic before Chocolate Hills became a global tourism sensation.

Built without much consideration for a drainage system, or a wall protection, paved section gets the the rainwater spilling into the pavement and forming a cascade where, for want of a pedestrian pavement, tourists have to hug the walls or grab the barriers so as not to be hit by traffic.

Now literally needing immediate repair to keep the tourists comfort, the Provincial Engineer’s Office (PEO) proposed a standard repair of the 139.45 meter section, with the standard curb and gutter and lined canal with accompanying stone masonry backwall slope protection for the 9 meter wide road.

In the pendency of the roadworks, the PEO also allocated a budget for traffic management as the work entails single lanes alternately opened for traffic, shared PEO Engineer Jon Sergio Caberte.

The new section would also have reinforced Portland Cement Concrete Pavement of 0.23 meters thick with a minimum of 14 days curing period, pipe culverts, lined canals, grouted riprap, stone masonry, concrete curb and gutter and reflectorized thermoplastic pavement markers, he added.

With the roadworks, tourism authorities in Bohol suggest that the LGU in Carmen implement its special shuttle service to ferry the tourists to and from the view deck from the drop off point and communal parking lot, to reduce traffic issues. (PIAbohol)