Thursday, September 25, 2008 City to strike deal for Carbon ramp By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
DESPITE an existing conflict, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is considering negotiating with Young Builders Corp., the second highest bidder of the proposed Carbon Public Market ramp.
WT Construction won the 2005 bidding for the P135-million ramp to serve as a market structure with rooftop parking, and a flyover that motorists could go through for
M.C. Briones St. to clear Quezon Blvd. of traffic.
WT, though, failed to begin civil works at the site because of several factors.
The delay was first caused by Young Builders, which built a fence and refused entry to the Unit II area until the City pays an additional P6 million.
Bond
Young Builders was awarded the P22-million contract by the previous administration to rebuild the Unit II building, which was gutted down by a blaze in 1998.
But the City decided to build a ramp, instead, and not to proceed with rebuilding the structure.
This prompted Young Builders to demand P6 million for variations, which the City initially refused to pay because they were unauthorized.
The City later on decided to pay, with the condition for Young Builders to put up a bond, which the construction company refused to comply with.
The City then decided to cancel the contract and told Young Builders to file a case in court to collect the money.
WT, too, asked for P6 million as additional cost for adjustments over the long-delayed construction of the ramp.
Because prices of construction materials have since increased, WT wanted to be paid more before starting with the construction, to which the City Government agreed.
Backed out
Last July, however, WT Construction owner Willy Te visited City Hall and told Mayor Osmeña that he was backing out of the project because of the ballooning cost of construction materials.
The proposed ramp is now back to the drawing board for the City Government, and another long wait for the affected vendors.
Told that the Carbon Market Vendors’ Development Cooperative (Cemved-co) offered to reconstruct Unit II, the mayor yesterday said he still intends to build the market ramp.
Proposal
He said, though, that the vendors’ association should submit its proposal in writing for the City Market Authority to evaluate.
“We will push through with the ramp. We are working on that. But the Market Authority can give its recommendation. They (Cemvedco) should put it (proposal) in writing. I have no objection to it. We have to pass it to the Market Authority for study if it can be done,” he told a news conference yesterday.
He explained that the City has to redo everything, from the feasibility study to identifying the fund source, and he is willing to negotiate with Young Builders.
“Yeah, there is a conflict. But we will consider (meeting with Young Builders), why not. There is a conflict, but if they want to talk about it, why not?” Osmeña said.
The Cemvedco had long asked for either the rebuilding of Unit II or the construction of the market ramp so displaced vendors who are currently using the sidewalk could already be relocated. (RHM)
