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Tuesday, January 14, 2003
Firms, unpaid P15M by city, shun parade
By Gingging A. Campaņa
CEBU -- The failure of the Cebu City Government to pay seven local contractors for heavy equipment rental may be an underlying reason the Cebu Contractors Association (CCA) won't be building bleachers along the Sinulog parade route this Sunday.
The City still owes private contractors who had rented out their heavy equipment to fix mountain barangay roads damaged by typhoon Nanang in November 2001.
CCA's demands to pay up since May last year went unheeded by the City, sources at City Hall told Sun.Star Cebu.
Accounting records showed that the City was short on funds.
In last year's Sinulog, CCA set up huge bleachers along the parade route, cost-free to the City and to the public. Not this year, though.
CCA president Edwin Salazar said the contractors are restrained by money and time. He let Sun.Star's question about the unpaid rentals pass.
In a separate interview, lawyer Liceria Rabillas, executive assistant of City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said the association will refuse "to cooperate unless they are paid."
"That's why (Vice Mayor Michael Rama) is asking the association to grant the foundation's request," she told Sun.Star.
The Sinulog Foundation has requested CCA to put up anew the bleachers for free. The bleachers could seat 200-300 people.
But Salazar said there may be no bleachers this year.
"First, we have time constraints and second, we lack the financial resources. It's true we are feeling the crunch and it's not easy. We know the bleachers are very beneficial to the public who watch the street dancing, especially those who cannot afford the ticket inside (the Cebu City Sports Center). Putting up the bleachers needs a bigger amount that we could not easily work out," Salazar said.
It cost them P4 million to set up the bleachers last year.
Another source, who asked not to be named, said Vice Mayor Rama, chairman of the Sinulog grand parade, twice called for a meeting with the contractors last month.
Nobody came to the first meeting while only six came attended the second meeting.
Rama had to spend the whole night last Friday asking the association to reconsider its decision.
They agreed to meet Monday.
Salazar and two other contractors met with Rama. It was reportedly agreed that instead of the association, individual contractors would put up the bleachers.
In 2001, the City hired the services of seven private firms to fix bad roads and construct drainage systems in the mountain barangays.
The firms were WTG Construction Development Corp., Salazar Co., PLD Construction, WT Construction, Duros Development Corp., Primary Structures and Gorones Development Corp.
The project began on Dec. 14, 2001 and ended last April 30.
But the City Accountant suspended the processing of vouchers supporting the payment and did not release the check to each of the contractors for lack of certificate of availability of funds and documents.
The city accountant ordered the City Engineer's Office to submit the requirements and explain the lapses.
Last year was the first time the association put up the bleachers, said to have cost the contractors P4 million.
But they had a hard time retrieving the structures as most of them were already stolen even before the Sinulog festivities ended.
"We got them back but there are some things we could no longer retrieve such as labor, nails and other materials," Salazar said.
Rabillas said, though, that the City is trying to work out all the documents supporting the "obligated payment," only that the Commission on Audit has been asking for compliance with the requirements.
Carillo has filed separate resolutions covering the project. One would authorize the city accountant to release the amount and the other, ratify the contract, which the City and the seven contractors entered into for the project.
"Once the matter is approved at the City Council tomorrow, we'll only have to thresh out a few things then hopefully, we can pay the contractors," Rabillas said. Sun.Star Cebu |
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