Friday, September 05, 2008 P8.7M saved on fuel, says Jonas
THE Mandaue City Government saved over P8.76 million in fuel expenses in the first half of this year, compared to what the previous administration spent for the same period last year, said Mayor Jonas Cortes.
He said spending was cut despite the increase in fuel prices and in the number of City-owned vehicles.
Cortes showed a bar graph that revealed that from January to June 2007, the City consumed P19.15 million in fuel. This dropped to P10.69 million when Cortes took over, from July to December 2007, and further decreased the first half of this year to P10.39 million.
Cortes the other day said these savings in fuel and lubricants, non-hiring of casuals and the hiring of job-order workers saved the City millions, and these savings accounted for part of its first supplemental budget for 2008.
However, the mayor’s comment that he “shouldn’t be blamed” if anyone sees bad roads in Mandaue provoked a reaction from Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna.
The council removed P57.2 million allocated for road maintenance in the City’s first supplemental budget of P126.5 million. Cortes, whose original proposal was for P205.53 million, said, “If they see bad roads, don’t blame me.”
“Blame your kabanay unlimited for the lack of road maintenance. They are the culprits why you can’t implement your projects,” Fortuna said in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
“They’re fighting among themselves on whose favored supplier will win. Stop using us as your scapegoat. We have given you what you have requested.”
When Cortes took over as mayor last July 2007, his officials lamented that the records only showed the amounts paid for fuel and lubricants, not the liters consumed.
City officials checked vehicles at the motor pool, but found out that all the gas meters were broken so there was no way for them to monitor fuel consumption in liters.
The mayor directed the City Administrator’s Office to regulate fuel use.
Last month, Fortuna and the opposition councilors “exposed” gas slips that revealed the budget officer’s car consumed 30 liters of gasoline every day starting July 2007 up to Aug. 10, 2007.
But City Administrator Briccio Boholst said this was only a small part of the big picture, and that the councilors did not show gas slips for the other months when consumption decreased.
Boholst announced last February that the City is saving P1 million a month in fuel consumption.
Most recently, Cortes and the opposition-dominated council struggled over the proposed first supplemental budget, including the allocation for job-order workers.
The vice mayor explained, in a message yesterday, that the council approved eight of 10 contracts for project implementation that the mayor requested, as well as 100 percent of his 2008 budget proposal.
He pointed out, however, that of the 15 priority projects listed under the Annual Investment Plan (AIP) for 2008, only 20 percent has been implemented.
“He shouldn’t act like Pontius Pilate, but be a Caesar instead,” said Fortuna.
“The city engineer has admitted to us that not one of the P11.8 million concreting and asphalting for repairs and drainage improvements approved by the council this year has been implemented. Naa nay kwarta, wa pa gihapon nakaimplementar. (There’s money available, but still nothing has been implemented).”
Fortuna pointed out that the mayor has at least P187 million at his disposal for infrastructure projects, including P122 million from the previous year’s AIP budget, and P59.4 million in this year’s AIP for road repairs and maintenance. (OCP)
