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Sunday, March 07, 2004
Senate asks DPWH to crack down on erring contractors
THE Senate committee on finance has urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to go after contractors of P33 billion worth of government projects implemented last year that were found defective.
Sen. Manuel Villar, chairman of the finance committee, said the government especially the DPWH, should make the contractors correct the defects.
Villar said the government can apply a new law that places a warranty on all public works projects.
“I urge the DPWH to invoke the ‘warranty against defective work’ provision in Republic Act 9148, the tough new government procurement law, in ordering contractors to repair botched-up projects,” Villar said.
He said once a contractor fails to comply with the law, the government should withhold payment or demand a refund, which are allowed under the law.
And if a contractor refuses to repair the defects, the DPWH should ban him completely from joining future biddings and appropriate charges should be filed against him.
Reports reaching the Senate said about P23.1 billion worth of foreign-funded projects built last year were found defective by the DPWH’s quality assurance unit.
Among the projects are those financed by the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Villar asked the DPWH to implement rigid quality checks on public works projects to avoid wastage and see to it that the projects are built according to agreed specifications. JPM
(March 6, 2004 issue)
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