Thursday, June 05, 2008 Lot purchase stalls construction By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
BANILAD flyover contractor WTG Construction and Development Corp. is running late in its schedule and will likely not meet its projected July 31 target completion date.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 has so far failed to secure entry permits from owners of nine critical lots, which should be bought so the road can be widened, for construction to proceed according to the plan.
The lots are worth P44 million. They total 2,786 square meters that the WTG said should have been purchased last month yet to widen Gov. Manuel Cuenco Ave.
Worth P120 million
The properties needed for the road-right-of-way total 7,445 square meters, and are worth around P120 million according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue zonal valuation of P15,500 per square meter.
To finish the construction by July 31, WTG needs to close the road to traffic, which the council will not allow.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama, council presiding officer, estimates the flyover will be finished by September yet, or two months ahead of the contracted period of 300 days.
The contracted period started last Feb. 1 and is scheduled to end on Nov. 30.
Revised timetable
The City Council, in its regular session yesterday, asked WTG to submit a revised timetable to the body. The document, which should also contain the responsible office for specific segments of the work, will be submitted tomorrow.
One consolation, though, is that traffic management may not be as daunting as expected because not all schools in the Banilad-Talamban area are opening on June 10.
Sun.Star Cebu learned that while some public and private schools like the University of San Carlos Technological Center and the Gullas Medical School will begin classes on Tuesday next week, others like the Bright Academy and the Cebu International School will open in July yet.
Sacred Heart School-Jesuits, with its new campus in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City, will also open on July 16 yet.
WTG project engineer Christopher Semilla said that while they will temporarily close just a lane when launching the girders, they have to close the road in setting up the span and the flyover approaches.
That will have to be done if the road is not widened, which depends on the purchase of the nine critical lots.
Lawyer Agustinito Hermoso, DPWH 7 legal counsel, said that in a meeting with project proponent Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north) last week, it was agreed that the P40 million that the Department of Budget and Management recently issued through a Special Allotment Release Order (Saro) will be used as payment to the owners of the nine critical lots.
‘Within the month’
However, the amount, which should have been payment for WTG, is still “en route.” Hermoso said that based on their experience, it will arrive for DPWH 7’s use “within the month.”
Semilla said that if the lot owners are paid on or before June 15, finishing the flyover by July 31 is still “technically attainable.”
They would be hard-pressed to do it, he said, but they could still meet the target if the road is widened before that date.
He, however, refused to say when the project could be finished if the July deadline is not met, saying they have to meet with DPWH officials yet.
Semilla, Hermoso and City Traffic Office Management (Citom) Executive Officer Arnel Tancinco attended yesterday’s Cebu City Council session.
It was after hearing them that Vice Mayor Rama made his projection.
City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said it is a relief that some schools will not start classes until July, because Citom would not be deluged by traffic.
Tancinco, though, said they have already prepared measures to ease the motorists’ woes, particularly by increasing the number of traffic enforcers by at least 20 personnel.
He said they will again strictly implement the “no left turn from school premises” policy to minimize traffic flow disruptions. (RHM)
