POSTS REMOVAL. The Antique Electric Cooperative needs PHP17 million to remove the posts affected by the road widening project. A total of 200 posts are set to be removed as these pose danger to commuters, especially at night. (PNA photo by Annabel Consuelo J. Petinglay)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique -- The Antique Electric Cooperative (ANTECO) needs PHP17 million just to remove the 200 electric posts affected by the road widening project from Barangay Atabay here to Barangay Cubay in Sibalom, Antique.
In an interview Thursday, ANTECO Technical Services Division manager Neal Peter C. Veñegas said they had a dialogue last Dec. 10 with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Office 6 officials about the posts affected by the road widening.
Veñegas added ANTECO then submitted a financial request for PHP17 million to be used in the removal of the posts because of the Joint Circular 1, Series 2017 dated July 2017 of the Department of Energy and the DPWH to compensate the expense for post removal.
He said the affected posts will be removed within this year or early next year.
“ANTECO has so far removed already 80 posts from Barangay Bantayan to Barangay San Pedro in San Jose de Buenavista town toward Barangay Cubay, Sibalom town but those were the ones that had been prioritized because of the danger these pose to commuters,” he said.
He said some of the 80 posts removed were from Barangay Madrangca to Barangay San Fernando in San Jose de Buenavista.
He said posts removal is expensive, costing to about PHP30,000 to PHP40,000 each because it serves as the mainline of the electricity that ANTECO is distributing to its consumers.
“Once we remove the pole we have to have it replaced by a new one outside of the DPWH road right of way,” Veñegas said.
The new pole to be used is 35 feet high Yellow Pine that is sturdy and could last for about 15 years to 20 years.
Veñegas, however, was unable to give the cost of one Yellow Pine pole. (PNA)
