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Thursday, July 06, 2006
Editorials: CICC construction woes
After all the earlier assurances that the Cebu International Convention Center will be finished on time or even ahead of schedule, the Cebu Provincial Capitol is back to where it started: worrying about the deadline.
Talks before the construction began centered on whether or not to do away with some of the government procedures to speed up the project’s completion, and there were even plans to ask President Arroyo to intervene.
That same discussion is being resurrected now after construction suffered delays, tightening the schedule and raising the possibility the structure may not be ready for the Asean Summit that Cebu will host in December.
If Capitol does fumble on this one, the shame would be apparent considering the high expectations and its effect on the preparation for the international gathering.
Pinpointing blame
In cases like this, the tendency is for people to blame government procurement procedures like these were all-evil and should immediately be done away with.
Which is misleading and could force the loosening of the monitoring, thus opening the floodgates to the possible commission of irregularities.
Here, the lessons of the power supply shortage inherited by the administration of former president Fidel Ramos from his predecessor, Cory Aquino, come to mind.
Until now, the ill effects of the contracts entered into by the Ramos administration with independent power producers are still weighing heavily on government finances.
Balancing act
The CICC problem, therefore, challenges the determination and creativity of Capitol officials led by the project overseer, Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez, himself an engineer and former contractor of some government-funded projects.
If they put their collective minds to it, they surely can map out ways to balance the effort to speed up the construction of the CICC superstructure and procurement of materials with the need to follow government procedure.
Or if they are eventually forced to do away with some of the procedures, they surely can find ways to ensure that public funds will be protected and they themselves would not end up being hailed to court after the Asean Summit.
It’s a difficult task, indeed, but it can and must be done.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 6, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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