Sunday, March 25, 2007 Work on city’s condos plods on By Aledel G. Cuizon Sun.Star Staff Reporter
ALMOST three years after their inauguration, medium-rise condominiums that would have housed Barangay Looc, Mandaue City’s urban poor families have not been completed for lack of budget.
And even if the funds are available, the P100 million-project now requires the City to borrow P7.05 million more as additional funds for pile-driving.
Last year, a City Hall official said at least one building would be finished by this month so beneficiaries could start moving in. But as of yesterday, piles were still being pounded into the soil.
City Councilor Raul Cabahug, council committee on socialized housing chairman, said in an interview yesterday that the contractor actually started construction immediately.
But the project site’s soil density required more piles for the foundation.
“Humok ra ang yuta (The soil was too soft),” Cabahug told Sun.Star Cebu.
Recovery
Last Friday, the City Council held a special session and granted Mayor Thadeo Ouano authority to enter into a loan agreement with the Development Bank of the Philippines worth P50-million.
Of that, P7.05 million is for the condominium project.
Ouano assured construction cost would be recovered from the beneficiaries’ amortization payments.
Ouano told Sun.Star yesterday that the project encountered major delays because of National Housing Authority (NHA) requirements.
NHA refused to release the budget until all requirements, including the land title, are complied with.
Ouano plans to accommodate City Hall employees by putting up more buildings at the housing site, which is located near a university at the foot of the first Mactan-Mandaue Bridge.
With work already ongoing, Cabahug said he is still happy despite the setbacks.
Ashamed no more
“Mahuman na jud. Dili ta mauwaw (This project will be finished soon. We no longer have to be ashamed),” he said.
He started working on the project when he was still Looc barangay captain.
He is now three months away from the end of his third term as city councilor.
Cabahug said the biggest factor in the delay was the titling of the lot where the condominium buildings will be constructed.
The property was donated to the City in 2004.
A P100-million budget taken from the P1.3 billion allocated for the National Housing Authority (NHA) under the 1998 Poverty Alleviation Fund 3 was set aside for the project.
Progress billing
The NHA was to set aside an initial amount of P15 million.
In August last year, Vice President and Housing Secretary Noli de Castro ordered NHA General Manager Federico Laxa to give the amount so the project could start.
The remaining P85 million will be given through progress billing.
Two months later, the City Council ratified the agreement between the City and Ferac Builders and Development for the project’s implementation.
Ferac promised to complete the project within six months from the time it receives the notice to proceed from the City Government.
It took almost a year for the review, recommendations, and changes to be made.
The project will still cost P100 million, but instead of 312 units, only 208 residential units will be constructed.
And instead of three buildings for the housing units, only two will be built.
