Saturday, December 29, 2007
Expansion, not renovation caused price overrun: Mike
By Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WITH expenses reaching P114 million so far, Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama clarified that the City Government spent the amount for the expansion of the legislative building, and not for a simple renovation.
Rama yesterday said the expansion cost was only P106 million but with the new state-of-the-art sound system and air-conditioning units, the expenses reached P114 million.
On top of that, the City will spend P18 million for the air-handling units for the district cooling system, which will raise the cost to P132 million.
But Rama said the cost of the air-handling units and installation of the system should not be included in the cost of the expansion because it was not the legislative department that initiated it.
The district cooling system is a project of Mayor Tomas Osmeña and will be used as a model for a similar system that will be installed at the South Road Properties (SRP).
“That is a project of the mayor for the SRP... I would not agree that we add the cost of the cooling system to the expansion cost because that’s not a project of the City Council. We just supported it because it was proposed by the executive,” Rama told reporters yesterday.
In a news conference, he also said the building was not simply renovated but expanded, that is why the cost reached P106 million.
From a floor area of 5,496 square meters, the newly renovated building now has a floor area of 7,700 square meters.
Based on the computation of the contractor, Dakay Construction and Development Corp., the construction cost is P14,700 per square meter.
Rama said the entire project cost is P130 million, including landscaping works and other electrical and plumbing fixtures that still have to be installed.
Expanded
“This is a P130-million project and engineer Ricky Dakay, the contractor, said that if we build a new building of the same size, it would cost at least P200 million,” he told a news conference
.
“At the beginning, it was only supposed to be a renovation but when they saw that they needed to strengthen the building, steel beams and additional steel structures were installed to expand the area. We now have a basement and the diggings made were an additional expense,” he said.
The original approved contract of the expansion project was only P65.47 million, which covered demolition works, structural works, steel reinforcement, roof and framing, mechanical works and fire protection, among others.
Donors
Osmeña, who is on vacation in the US, said earlier that the renovation cost too much of the taxpayers’ money, and that it would have been cheaper to construct a new building.
But not all the money used for the expansion came from the City’s coffers, Rama said.
The council also raised P26 million, including the financial assistance of P10 million each from Reps. Antonio Cuenco (south district) and Raul del Mar (north district).
The Philippine Tourism Authority also released P5 million of the P11-million financial contribution it promised the council.
With the initial amount, Rama said the landscaping works can already start after the holidays next week.
Also, the council commissioned the work on the drainage system within the City Hall compound to prevent flooding in the area before landscaping works can start.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (December 29, 2007 issue)
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