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Saturday, September 17, 2005
Councilors press for renovation, amid gaps in funding
Cebu City councilors, department heads and employees working in the old legislative building of the City Government may enjoy their new offices in 2007 yet, as the proposed renovation will start only in January next year.
Last-term Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera may not be able to enjoy it for long, if the winning contractor doesn’t finish the renovation on time.
But she is willing to help update all records, documents and programs of works and estimates needed to realize the council’s legislative agenda, conceived in 2000 yet.
“Remaining funds should be allocated for the renovation of this building. I may not be able to use the room assigned to me because it will already be the end of my term,” Pesquera told her colleagues in a session last Wednesday.
The current term ends in June 2007.
Bidding soon
Councilor Nestor Archival, tasked to work on the documents needed for the project procurement, assured that building plans will be ready if the budget for the construction is also ready.
“By November or December, we can start the bidding process and start the construction in January. We will be pushing for it so she can still stay in her office,” said Archival of Pesquera.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama said the Sangguniang Panlungsod staff is “continuously moving towards realizing” the legislative agenda.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who is in Singapore to attend an international conference on desalination, has sent letters to two owners of the buildings where the officials and employees of offices affected by the renovation can stay, while the construction is ongoing.
In his letter to Allan G. Alfon, assistant vice president of Aboitizland Inc., the mayor confirmed the City’s intention to rent for a year the office spaces of the City Savings Financial Plaza, near the Basilica del Sto. Niño on Osmeña Blvd.
P52.2M for renovation
He also sent another letter to Isabel Yu, president of Yutivo Corp., telling her that the City will be occupying 900 square meters of the second floor of the Yutivo Building beside City Hall on D. Jakosalem St.
Osmeña said he is just waiting for the council’s authority for him to transact with Yutivo in behalf of the City Government.
Members of the council requested that the remaining P52.2 million from the Local Development Fund (LDF) for 2004 be not spent on projects other than the proposed renovation.
They were dismayed after being told that some P155 million worth of projects under the 2004 Annual Investment Plan (AIP) will not be implemented due to the lack of funds.
The local treasury office said they failed to meet their revenue targets.
The body has set aside P265.4 million for the LDF, as fund source for the 2004 AIP projects.
But the treasurer’s office said it can allocate, as the Local Government Code allows, only P121 million from the Internal Revenue Allotment share for the LDF.
Some P154.9 million in projects will have to be “sacrificed.” (GAC)
(September 17, 2005 issue)
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