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Friday, January 23, 2004
Mandaue council holds market deal
By Oscar C. Pineda
INCONSISTENCIES in the figure prompted the Mandaue City Council to defer the ratification of the contract to build the new public market’s first phase.
The agreement with Rosal Infrastructure Builders (RIB) placed the contract price at P94 million but Councilor Wenceslao Gakit, who is also a member of the pre-qualification, bids and awards committee, pointed out that the contractor’s bid price was only P93.8 million.
City Attorney Malcolm Seno said there was an oversight because when his office prepared the draft contract, they placed it at P94 million, which is the City’s available amount for the project.
He said they were not yet aware at that time that the bid amount was only P93.8 million. The Office of the Mayor did not also make the necessary correction on the document before it was signed by Mayor Thadeo Ouano and RIB general manager Alberto Surla last Friday.
Clerical error
Seno, though, said this is a clerical error that can easily be corrected.
Since the council cannot make the necessary changes, Gakit said the body agreed to defer the ratification of the contract.
Gakit said Mayor Thadeo Ouano must be the one to change its amount from P94 million to P93.8 million and he will again have to request the Council to ratify the corrected contract with a formal justification on why the change was made.
Meanwhile, the Man-daue City Government is already preparing the documents needed by the Philippine Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) so it can issue a clearance for the demolition of over 400 squatters living in the market site.
The PCUP is the country’s “clearing house” before any demolition can be made on informal settlers occupying government property.
Requirement
PCUP’s certificate of compliance is required before the City Government can release the financial assistance for the qualified residents.
Over 400 household squatters are residing in the City’s 16,460-square-meter lot at the back of the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Center in Barangay Centro, where the new market will be built.
Francisco Guillena, head of Mandaue’s Housing and Urban Development Office, said only 395 of them qualify for financial assistance ranging from P3,000 to P12,000 from the City Government. About P2.4 million has been allocated for this purpose.
The squatters have agreed to voluntarily vacate and demolish their houses within 15 days from their receipt of the City’s financial assistance.
Even then, Ouano said RIB can already start with the construction since a big portion of the lot is vacant.
(January 23, 2004 issue)
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