Tuesday, July 03, 2007 Low cost of CICC ‘drove contractor to walk out’
CEBU Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. yesterday said that the cost of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) is not only within standards, it is “so low” that one contractor pulled out his heavy equipment and backed out of the undertaking in the middle of construction.
Sanchez said the Capitol even prepared its engineering department personnel to do the project by administration had negotiations for the contractor to change his mind failed.
In an interview with reporters, Sanchez said he already knew the facility would cost P800 million but Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia made efforts to keep the cost down by appealing to the contractors’ sense of heroism for Cebu and the country.
Work on the CICC was rushed so it could be completed in time for the Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) and East Asia summits, where 17 heads of states gathered. Because Myanmar begged off from hosting, the Philippines was deprived of a year’s time to prepare for the event.
The architect designed the building to use structural steel instead of reinforced concrete so they can do away with curing time for concrete. They also had builders working 24 hours on shift instead of the usual eight hours per day of construction work.
Questions
Questions have been raised on the CICC, ranging from whether it could be finished on time to whether it is not overpriced.
But Sanchez said yesterday Garcia kept on meeting with contractors and asked them to cut their prices and do away with profit for the sake of Cebu.
This led one contractor to give up, Sanchez said, and he had to come into the scene to negotiate with the contractor, who already refused to talk to any one.
Sanchez said that during their one-on-one meeting, the contractor told him his decision to pull out of the construction was final.
“So I told him that I understand his position, and that we will respect it. But I also raised to him the possibility that if he refuses to help us, he would be blacklisted not only in Cebu but all over the country because the Philippines, and not Cebu, is the host of the Asean and it was the President who chose us,” Sanchez said.
So far, the Capitol received P2.6 million as income from groups who used the CICC. Expected income but still to be collected from groups who held activities in the center includes the P12 million from the National Government and P1.4 million from various groups.
Businessman Crisologo Saavedra had filed complaints against Gov. Garcia and Capitol department heads because of the CICC.
The CICC’s initial cost was P581 million but lately, the Capitol said the “worst-case scenario” is that it will cost P800 million. (JPM)
