The local government unit (LGU) of Cortes will impose tight health safety measures on the hundreds of workers mostly from Metro Manila who will be arriving in the town for the construction of the P2.2-billion Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in the municipality.

According to Cortes Mayor Iven Lim, workers from outside the province will undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine when they arrive for the massive construction which is slated to start next month in Barangay Malayo Norte.

“Estrikto gihapon ta, og naay ilang pasudlon mga workers nila gikan sa Manila or kung asa kinahanglan mo agi gihapon og quarantine ug e-cordon nato ang area unya naa tay e-assign na police ug tanod pohon inig sugod na g’yud nila,” Lim said.

The national government-led GCGMH tapped Quezon City-based firms R.R. Encabo Constructors Inc. and Grundstein Construction and Development Corp. for the construction of the P1.6-billion Phase 1 of the project.

Lim said that around 800 employees will be working on the facility’s construction and 50 percent of them will be from outside the province.

The rest of the workers will be Bohol residents, mostly from Cortes.

“Definitely ang ilang mga skilled workers ani ila g’yud pero atong gihangyo na hatagan gihapon og prioridad ning atong mga katawhan nga makasulod so apil nana sa among gisabutan na 50 percent is coming from diri sa ato,” he said.

Lim said that Phase 1 of the project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.

Several workers are already in the province for clearing operations and other processes but more are expected to arrive when actual construction starts.

As of Monday, the town of Cortes had zero active COVID-19 cases while the rest of the province tallied 14 ongoing infections. (A. Doydora)