Thursday, January 03, 2008 Ledesma: The invisible bridge By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
PRESIDENT Arroyo should personally look into the unconscionable delay of the construction of the Bankerohan Bridge (Gov. Generoso Bridge). Otherwise she will be damned. I don't believe that she knew about why the reconstruction of the collapsed span had been delayed. But she is unnecessarily being dragged into the bridge controversy, which is starting to look like one of those graft-ridden undertakings of DPWH.
I have serious misgivings about this bridge project. I have a feeling that there was no public bidding conducted at all. I could be wrong but I have not seen a notice for bid published in any of the national papers. The award was also done in haste. If the notice was made at all, it would take more than three weeks to announce the winner, as it would require a once-a-week publication before a bidding could be held. This award was done at a lightning speed.
The Department of Public Works and Highways later announced that the winning bid (Ciriaco Construction) was for P206 million. They even came out with the quotations of other bidders, which, if examined closely, are very close to each other that one would think it was rigged. Since we are in dire need of that bridge, we let that pass. However, in less than two weeks I read in one of the news dispatches quoting DPWH that the price is P216 million!
This happens when Malacañang appears to be tolerant of all the shenanigans that are happening under its nose. This lackadaisical attitude is what invites those in the government bureaucracy to attempt at anything where make a fast buck.
If GMA's rating is going down faster than when it can gain an upward momentum, it's because she gets the blame for every scam that people under her commit.
Look at this simple case of Bankerohan Bridge. First, DPWH told us that it would be done in three months from the time it collapsed. Then Regional Director Dimas Suguilon even told me personally that together with the construction of the bridge would be the construction of a flyover in Matina Crossing.
The bridge was supposed to be made of steel, the funds for which will come from the "Tulay ng Pangulo" program. It would have cost very little since it will be undertaken by DPWH itself. For one reason or another, they scrapped the plan and said that they will put up a concrete bridge instead. They gave all the idiotic reasons for the alteration of the plan. So from virtually nothing the cost estimate was a mind boggling P320 million!! From then on the long wait began.
In her visit to the Prayer Mountain of Pastor Quiboloy in Tamayong, President GMA told Mayor Rodrigo Duterte that she had the program of work reviewed because she sensed a scam in it. In the meantime, Director Suguilon was promoted to DPWH assistant secretary. Finally they announced the winner and the rest is a sad event of waiting and tomfoolery. Neither the bridge nor the flyover has been started. But what is more worrisome is that even before they can drive the first nail, they already adjusted the price by over P10 million! And what we have is an invisible bridge.
DPWH, which has proved itself to be worse that politicians in breaking promises, has not actually ran out of reasons why it has not started the construction which we were told will commence on November 28, 2007 just two days shy from the deadline set by Mayor Duterte that if they will not build the bridge by December 1st the city will undertake it through a loan.
Yesterday they told us bad weather prevented the contractor's barge from leaving Manila. Today they tell us that the coastline of Davao City is too shallow their equipment barge cannot land!! The next time around they will tell us that the barge is lost in the ocean--maybe taken over by the pesky Abu Sayyaf bandits to their lair in Tawi-Tawi and that the contractor is still waiting for another set of equipment which they have imported from Iraq. You know, those Iraq surplus are better than most of what our local contractors have.
Well, what do you know? It's now January 3, 2008. I am a year older today. I hope that within my lifetime I will be able to see that Bankerohan Bridge constructed. I hope too that President Arroyo vents her anger on whoever is engineering the scam.
Otherwise, Mayor Rody, why don't we just start building that bridge ourselves?
