Thursday, April 19, 2007 Seno reluctant to accept lamps
THE controversy over the lamps and streetlights purchased for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit is making Acting Mandaue City Mayor Amadeo Seno Jr. “reluctant” to accept them when these are turned over to the local government from the public works department.
The same goes for Acting Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Norma Patalingjug, who also want to “play safe” by referring the matter first to her legal advisers.
“Lisod man ta modasdas. We need an inventory,” she said in a separate intervew.
The action of the two city mayors is different from that of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who earlier said he will accept the 640 lamps in Cebu City even if it means some P4 million in electricity consumption every year.
Osmeña is even willing to repair the damaged lamps and replace busted lights at the expense of Cebu City Hall.
Osmeña said he will do so to help the hotels in the city. Most of the lamps were installed along the route of the hotels, where the foreign dignitaries who attended the Asean summit last January were billeted.
But for Seno, he will consult the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Office of the Ombudsman to know whether he will incur any liability if he accepts the lamps.
The anti-graft office’s investigation on the allegedly expensive lamps has led to the six-month preventive suspension of Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza.
Seno and Patalinjug were sworn into office as acting mayors early this month.
Nine officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways 7 and some city engineers of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu were also suspended for six months without pay.
In Mandaue alone, there are over 500 street lights that were put up for the Asean summit: at least 300 lights with the hat-like top, 89 with the round head and 140 with single, double and triple arms.
The purchase amounted to P365.87 million for a total of 2,310 lamps and streetlights. The price for each lamp ranged between P83,000 and P350,000, including installation costs.
The other streetlamps are in Cebu City, while the rest are in Lapu-Lapu, with at least 40 of them installed in a private resort.
The streetlamps were installed along the ceremonial route, or the road that the delegates of the 12th Asean summit passed through.
Seno told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that his main consideration in accepting the lampposts is the huge bill that the City will shoulder, stressing that there is no budget for that yet.
Although the recent supplemental budget has some funds for electrical consumption, the amount is for the City’s regular operations. (AAG/OCP)
