Tuesday, March 06, 2007 Gov’t, John Hay developers ‘cheat’ City By Rimaliza Opiña
THE Baguio City Government and the developer of Camp John Hay allegedly duped the City Government into approving the development of the former American rest and recreation facility because the developments that were promised 12 years back remain unrealized.
This was announced by Acting Vice Mayor Leandro Yangot Jr., as head of the CJH monitoring team formed early into the term of suspended Mayor Braulio Yaranon, who added that apart from the failure to pay their lease, several other violations have been committed specifically on provisions that pertain to limitations on infrastructure development, housing, water supply, free access to CJH, priority to local businesses, peace and order, human resource development, and that the required timetable for development has not been followed.
Yangot said because of the erratic payment of shares from the lease of CJH, it is now uncertain if more amounts will be remitted to the City Treasurer’s Office by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) from its collections from the CJH developer, Camp John Hay Development Corporation (CJHDevCo).
Yangot said at stake is the payment of the annual amortization of the Baguio Convention Center (BCC) to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
As admitted earlier by the BCDA subsidiary, John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC), no shares would be given to the City Government because CJHDevCo has not remitted its lease payment yet.
"I personally find this seemingly helpless situation unacceptable. CJHDevCo owes the city hundreds of millions (of pesos) and hundreds of thousands of our residents are waiting for improved public service," Yangot said, adding that the entry of new investors to CJH is an indication for the city government to be aggressive in collecting its shares.
Yangot referred to the establishment of a call center within CJH and the construction of exclusive residential conclaves.
He said the City still has P97 million in collectibles from the P900 million remitted earlier by the JHMC.
The JHMC collects from CJHDevCo the lease of CJH, and in turn, remits 25 percent to the city.
With regard to the findings of the monitoring team, Yangot claimed that sewerage treatment and garbage disposal within CJH has to be addressed because of the danger of contamination of the water source of nearby barangays and the apparent lack of employees that would segregate garbage.
He said free access within CJH is limited to selected areas only and that locators and concessionaires associated with CJHDevCo are reportedly given priority over local businesses.
There also is a high turnover rate of employees, Yangot added, as evidenced by the number of advertisements posted for job openings. He said that less than 50 percent of CJH’s former employees have been retained.
The supposed modern communication equipment, high standard firefighting equipment, courteous security guards, modern sports facilities and eco-tourism management plan remain only on paper because the equipment currently used are outdated," Yangot said, adding that CJHDevCo’s capacity to carry on with CJH’s development is far behind schedule.
"The timetable for operations is grossly behind schedule, considering that CJHDevCo is already 10 years old and still no significant improvements have been taken at least in the past five years," he added.
