Over 300 maintenance workers of the Department of Public Works and Highways have been deployed to help clear Southern Leyte roads from typhoon debris.
These workers from the Eastern Visayas (Region 8) regional office and 13 district engineering offices were sent to the typhoon-wrecked province to augment clearing operations.
“We have intensified road-clearing efforts since the aftermath of the typhoon so that all other aid and relief operations both from government and private groups could be properly distributed to affected areas,” said DPWH Eastern Visayas Regional Director Allan Borromeo in a statement on Thursday.
Over 140 equipment and vehicles from all DPWH field offices in the region are in Southern Leyte being used to remove road obstructions.
These are dump trucks, boom trucks, backhoe loaders, payloaders, chainsaws, generator sets, among others.
Among those that have been fully cleared are the road sections that link Maasin City and Sogod town, the road that connects Southern Leyte to Baybay City, the road from Bato in Leyte to Bontoc in Southern Leyte, Silago to St. Bernard Road, St. Bernard to Junction Himayangan Road, Junction Himayangan to Libangon Road, and Junction Himayangan-Silago-Abuyog Boundary Road.
The DPWH Region 8 maintenance workers are still conducting clearing operations in several other typhoon-hit areas until these road sections are fully-cleared from all debris.
Clearing efforts conducted by the quick response teams involve cutting of fallen trees, removal and hauling of landslide debris, removal of fallen utility posts, among other activities.
Typhoon Odette ravaged Southern Leyte on December 16, leaving a massive trail of destruction in all areas of the province.
