Ad-hoc group to fix accident-prone portions of ARMM roads

COTABATO CITY - The public works department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao organized a road safety audit team to study solutions to accident-prone stretches of arterial networks in ARMM’s five provinces.Engineer Don Mustapha Loong, secretary of ARMM’s Department of Public Works and Highways, on Monday said the interim group, activated over the weekend, will survey portions of thoroughfares in the region where traffic accidents frequently occur.Loong said the team, comprised of engineers, will recommend measures needed to fix road design constraints to the benefit of commuters and motorists. This focuses mostly old on roads, not those built by the present administration because new roads in the region were constructed according to national safety laws,” Loong said.Loong said the office of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, touted as little Malacañang” of the autonomous region, has keenly been observing the on-going construction of new roads in the region and rehabilitation of old ones to ensure implementation efficiency. The present ARMM administration wants these road projects implemented according to rules set by the Commission on Audit and also according to the national road safety regulation standards,” Loong said.Loong said the road safety survey is part of the regional government’s effort to ensure high quality of more than 500 of kilometers of arteries being built presently in ARMM’s five provinces. These infrastructure efforts are all in support of the Mindanao peace process which aims to restore normalcy in far-flung areas in the autonomous region and at the same time improve the investment climate in all of its component provinces,” Loong said.The ARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in Central Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.Among the major thoroughfares in the ARMM are the national highways traversing Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, connecting the two provinces to Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Marawi City.Hataman on Monday ordered Regional Local Government Secretary Anwar Malang to coordinate the activities of the road safety inspectors with the mayors of the 116 towns in the autonomous region to ensure their safety while travelling through areas where they are to conduct their studies.