DEPW wants to end deal with contractor

THE construction division of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) has recommended the termination of contract with Young Builders Inc. for the construction of Carbon Public Market.

Engr. Juanito Pua Jr., the head of the construction division, said the first problem was Young Builders Inc.’s request for escalation of prices.

As early as 2001, the plan to rebuild Carbon Market, which was gutted by a fire in 1998, was already in place and Young Builders won the bidding for it. The area was fenced in 2002.

Between 2002 and 2012, prices of construction materials went up but DEPW Assistant City Engr. June Nadine Sison said this could not be done because it was not in the contract.

Sison said it was suggested that Young Builders make the project first and then request for an escalation cost after the project is completed. This was not acceptable to the contractor.

“We were like the egg and chicken situation,” Sison said.

This is why it would be more practical to just terminate the contract.

Sison said Young Builders can still bid for the contract with the prices akin to today’s market.

Aside from the escalation of prices, Pua also said there was a problem with the fence that Young Builders created and the company wants to be paid for it. The fence was not including in the contract.

Pua made the recommendation to Mayor Michael Rama.

Meeting

Rama told reporters he will have to meet with the department heads concerned and evaluate if he should sign the recommendation.

When asked if this means that the project has been held hostage by the contractor, Rama was not direct, “We will have a meeting.”

Once signed, the recommendation will be forwarded to the termination committee, composed of members from the DEPW and City Legal Office, for verification and approval.

The City Government has allocated P170 million for the construction of the market, which has not been implemented for over a decade.

Groundbreaking

The City broke ground last October so that construction can finally begin. Unfortunately, it may take time before the structure could be started with this development.

The Carbon Market will again be part of the statistics of DEPW projects that have yet to be implemented.

Sison admitted that less than 50 percent of the 2012 infrastructure projects of the City Government have been implemented.

For the 2012 annual investment plan (AIP) worth P380 million, not a single project is in the implementation stage.

DEPW’s Engr. Joel Reston said of the P144 million-worth of road concreting projects, P54 million have been bid out while P60 million is in the process of getting an Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC).

For drainage projects, only two have been bid out, which is worth P1.5 million, while P68 million-worth of projects are in the bidding stage. There is a total of P105 million under the 2012 local development fund intended for drainage.

For bridges under the AIP, P6.7 million-worth of projects have a program of works and estimates (POWE), while another P5 million are still in the stage of processing for the POWE.

For vertical infrastructures, P37 million worth of projects are in the process of getting an ABC, while P10 million are still in the POWE preparation stage.

Reston attributed the delay in the amendment of the AIP done in the middle of last year by the Cebu City Development Council (CCDC).

For 2013, the City has yet to approve the projects that will be funded by the local development fund because at least three meetings intended for the approval of the AIP 2013 were stuck in a debate related to two flyover projects deleted from the list of projects endorsed by the CCDC.