The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has addressed a complaint on dust pollution along a portion of Buenavista Salcedo Road in the town of Salcedo, Eastern Samar that was posted on Facebook.
DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, citing a report from District Engineer Ma. Margarita Junia of DPWH Eastern Samar District Engineering Office (ESDEO), said that a concerned citizen reported the excessive dust which is allegedly due to hauled excavated materials on the road from an ongoing construction inside Salcedo Elementary School.
Upon coordination with the local government unit (LGU) of Salceda, it was determined that the contractor of the local project had been dumping the embankment along the national road to be given freely to the nearby residents.
“Residents in the area had been complaining about the health hazard brought by the dust.”
“It was reported that residents in the area had been complaining about the health hazard brought by the dust, hence we raised the concern to the LGU to immediately stop the dumping,” Villar said.
The DPWH maintenance crew, together with the LGU Bureau of Fire Protection also conducted a cleaning operation to remove the existing and remaining pile of excavated materials on the road.
Meanwhile, two recent complaints also allowed the DPWH to expedite a road-widening project affecting the gate of Cabantian Elementary School in Davao City and another which led to another round of catch basin and drainage declogging along Dimasalang Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila to prevent flooding.