Monday, May 05, 2008 Ledesma: Bridges of sigh By Jun Ledesma Sunbursts
THIS is not about Bankerohan Bridge. This is about the fabled Samal Bridge. Somehow there is similarity between the two in that the awards for construction seemed to have been pulled out from the magician's hat. The bridge that would link Davao City and the Island Garden City of Samal is as fascinating as a rainbow...the idea is one which you hear now and then fizzles out to oblivion.
The Bankerohan Bridge though is another story. It was there and it collapsed. The span disappeared in the murky water of Bankerohan River. But it's a bridge full of wonder. It took the government over ten months to plan and award under what they call "negotiated contract" because according to DPWH officials it is an EMERGENCY PROJECT. Actually, there was an abstract of bids. The winner is now constructing the bridge. Prior to the announcement of the award, some DPWH officials attempted to twist and pad the figures by saying that the project cost is P216-million. In another attempt to glorify themselves, they came up with a press statement that they were able to convince the contractor to reduce its offer to P206-million. Of course that's a lot of bull.
It took sometime for the contractor to start with the project. The completion time should have been last month- April. Initially DPWH told Davao media that the barge, which carried the construction equipment and materials of Ciriaco construction cannot land in Davao City as the coastlines are shallow. Of course that was another fairy tale. The next time around they came out with another story that the barge hit a sand bar somewhere in Kalamansig or Lebak. That was tomfoolery. Anyway, after all the delays they came out with a blessed assurance that the bridge will be completed in April.
It's now May. Good for them we have this magma of issues like food crisis, Charter change and the overblown withdrawal of the Malaysian ceasefire watchdogs. Actually they have reset their target to August although they have not told us what year.
But here is another incredible episode of another bridge that would span Davao mainland to IGACOS. I heard that the press conference at the Apo View Hotel was expectedly well attended. I had wanted to but when I was told that they will start the construction soon, I told myself: "This is one April fool's story that happened on Labor Day".
I was curious though so I asked journalists who attended the hoopla. The firm which I think sounded like MCC Capital Ltd., of UK has boasted it will build the bridge at the cost of $140-million. Amount is peanuts if you consider that some countries are awash with dollars these days. But what caught my attention though is that it's the first time that I heard of a British firm which has a Chinese national as president, an Arab as COO and an American as a VP. This American was once a guest at Casa Leticia so maybe the rest of you guys can take up from there. But what seems to be impressive is the presence of a Finance Undersecretary during the event. What is she doing there? I hope this not a clone of Abalos. And this was spice up by the presence of IGACOS former mayor Roger Antalan and his brother Aning, the incumbent. The cast is complete...almost anyway. Be that as it may, I admire the enthusiasm and excitement of the Antalan brothers. Wish you the best of luck.
What really intrigues me is the presence of a Finance Asec instead of a NEDA officer or maybe a DPWH bigwig. You can hate our government for it, but isn't it mandated that if a firm is interested to undertake a project in this graft-laden land, that company have to make an "unsolicited offer". Remember the ZTE-NBN and I think the NAIA-3 project? They concept all started with an unsolicited offer. But since there is no money there for the pacmen in government, they changed the system to suit their moneymaking venture. This one in Samal will be for "build-operate-transfer", so the proponents assured the Antalan brothers.
That brings us back to our Bankerohan Bridge. When it collapsed last April 2007, then DPWH Regional Director Dimas Suguilon assured Mayor Duterte that he will have it restored by December 2007. He even added one more item: that a fly-over complex in Matina crossing will be built simultaneously. Poor Mayor Duterte. He took the promise hook-line-and sinker and appealed to Davaowenos to bear it until December for after all the two important infrastructures will ultimately ease everybody's traffic woes. Before we could wink, they altered the plan to put up a steel bridge, which will come from the "Tulay ng Pangulo" program and therefore will just be undertaken by the government engineering crew. They changed the program of work to that which contemplates of a cement bridge. They explained that aesthetics-wise the cement bridge would be a lot better. Some quarters are saying that under the "tulay ng pangulo" program, no one makes money. Well, I suspect that the plan having changed the bridge will indeed be a lot better for some people's pocket.
So what of the Samal Bridge? Show me the credentials of MCC Capital first. Same advice I would give to speculators who might rush buying subdivision lots and raw lands in IGACOS. That bridge looks like a sales sweetener before you know it. What's your take on this? Email me at scledesmajr@yahoo.com.
