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Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Convention center may not be ready for Asean summit
CEBU CITY -- Cost overruns and red tape may put the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in a bind and Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez fears the facility will not be completed in time for the Asean Summit in December.
The entire project might cost the Provincial Government a total of P375 million instead of P250 million, as provided in the supplemental budget passed in 2003 yet and which has been carried for the project that started last March.
Architect Manuel Guanzon earlier said the P250 million was a rough estimate, covering only the structure's shell, while the P375-million estimate includes landscaping, furnishing, interiors, and utilities.
Guanzon has also said that the CICC will be finished by October.
Sanchez told reporters Monday that from 100 percent, his "level of confidence" for the project has gone down to 60 percent.
"I fear that government bureaucracy will hamper the project's completion," he said.
The CICC at the Mandaue City Reclamation Area is the main venue for the gathering of the officials from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and their invited counterparts from China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, among others.
Sanchez had to leave as presiding officer of Monday's Provincial Board session to attend a "very critical" meeting with the consultants, architect Guanzon and members of the bids and awards committee.
He said they are having problems with the procurement process and the paperwork for the project because of the limitations and government rules that need to be followed.
Sanchez, also a civil engineer, said Capitol is allowed to award the construction of the superstructure to the same contractor because it is ahead of its schedule for the completion of the substructure.
But he said there is a limitation to this because the law also provides that the amount of the next project must not exceed the amount of the preceding project.
In the case of the CICC, the amount of the superstructure is more than the substructure, which was undertaken by WT Construction.
Nevertheless, the contractor will still start putting up the columns within the week.
In the implementation schedule for the CICC, the work on the superstructure was set to start on June 30.
The substructure is worth P59 million and the Provincial Government is considering allowing the contractor to work within that amount for the superstructure.
The remaining works might be done after a regular bidding or they might get exemptions from the Commission on Audit, Sanchez said.
Another possible cause of the delay is the mechanical, plumbing and electrical contracts as these are yet to be awarded.
Sanchez said they are speeding up the paperwork for the project because this is an "abnormal project" that has no time for extension.
"That's why every activity needs to be guarded," he said.
Sanchez also revealed that they might pass a supplemental budget for the project because he believes it would go beyond the P250-million budget.
Sanchez said WT Construction is collecting an initial amount of P50 million from the Provincial Government.
He revealed that the contractor has already spent some P150 million as it has started purchasing materials for the superstructure.
Meanwhile, the Regional Development Council (RDC) sent another follow-up letter to the National Housing Authority (NHA) to request for the immediate release of the funds for the P100-million Paradise Island medium-rise housing (MRH) project in Mandaue City.
RDC's Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC), which is tasked to monitor the implementation of foreign-funded and critical projects in the region, saw the urgency of implementing and completing the housing project before the Asean summit in December.
"The 1st Mandaue-Mactan Bridge is a major ceremonial route for the Asean heads of state. The area beneath the bridge should be cleared and families resettled to the medium-rise housing before the staging of the summit," said National Economic and Development Authority 7 Director Marlene CA Rodriguez, who is also the RPMC chairperson, in a letter dated June 27, 2006 to NHA General Manager Federico Laxa.
Rodriguez also stated that they sent their first request to Laxa last May 26 but, until now, they have not received any communication from him.
Last month, Mayor Thadeo Ouano also wrote Laxa, threatening to initiate legal measures against NHA officials should they use the funds, originally intended for the housing project in Mandaue City, for other purposes.
He also asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's intervention for the immediate release of the project's budget.
The MRH project, consisting of two five-story buildings that will be put up in a nearby City-owned lot in Barangay Looc, can accommodate 208 of the families living under the first Mandaue-Mactan bridge. The rest of the 200 households will be accommodated in the community mortgage program in Barangay Paknaan. (MBG/ROV/Sun.Star Cebu)
(July 4, 2006 issue)
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