Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Flyover finished on Sept. 5: Go
CONSTRUCTION of the Banilad flyover will be finished on Sept. 5.
That was the assurance yesterday by WTG Construction and Development Corp. owner Willy Go.
The original target date for the flyover on Gov. Manuel Cuenco Ave. and A.S. Fortuna St. was July 31.
The target date could not be met because of the delay in securing entry permits from owners of nine critical lots.
Yesterday, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 turned over a check worth P2.3 million to lot owner Loreta Quioco. The payment paved the way for WTG to start clearing lots adjacent to the construction site for the road widening.
Parking lot
DPWH 7 Legal Counsel Agustinito Hermoso also assured residents that owners of the Cesar Foodland Inc. already promised to allow WTG to use their building’s parking lot to expand the road.
The Carungay property is one of the nine lots considered critical for the road widening to proceed.
“According to Attorney (Rolando) Lim, okay na sila,” Hermoso said. Lim represents the Carungay family, who owns Foodland.
Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north), in a press conference at the DPWH 7 office yesterday afternoon, gathered Go, WTG project engineer Christopher Semilla, DPWH 7 Director Josefino Rigor, Hermoso, Cebu City District Engineer Nicomedes Leonor, among others, for the announcement of the new project completion date.
Del Mar said WTG would have finished the flyover by the end of the month had clearing for the road expansion started on June 16.
But because three lot owners only gave their consent last Friday while Quioco gave hers only yesterday, WTG failed to meet the proposed schedule.
The project was contracted to be finished by November yet, or within 300 calendar days since it started on Feb. 1.
But WTG, which del Mar said hardly profited from the project by offering a bid of just P89.6 million, had said it could do it by July 31 if its workers could enter the lots by June 16.
Del Mar said that since the plan to finish the project one and a half month after June 15 did not push through, completion was reckoned from yesterday.
He said Quioco, in particular, wanted to allow WTG to enter her 156-square-meter property only after actual payment by DPWH.
In front of reporters covering the press conference, Rigor signed the check that Quioco accepted when she arrived at the DPWH 7 minutes later.
Del Mar said Quioco would have wanted that the DPWH draft a memorandum of agreement with her on the payment but it was canceled when DPWH secured a letter of cash allotment for her property yesterday afternoon.
Rigor said DPWH is paying a total of P30 million for six lot owners within the week.
Go said the girders, slabs and even railings for the flyover are all pre-cast so he was confident they could finish the flyover by Sept. 5.
Del Mar acknowledged that there would still be those who will not believe the announcement, but he showed confidence on Go’s assurance.
“I know people will still not believe us. So let us just wait and see,” he said.
He said that though the contract stipulated 300 days, it was never in their mind to prolong the project until November. (RHM)
