INSTEAD of just reconstructing the burnt Carbon Market Unit 2, Cebu City officials are proposing the construction of one big complex that will house all three units of the Carbon market in Barangay Ermita.
The City Attorney’s Office gave the go-signal for the construction despite a court case involving the aborted Unit 2 reconstruction, but the project will have to wait for the next administration to take over and to set aside funds for it.
City Councilor Jose Daluz III said they will propose to Mayor Tomas Osmeña to build one big complex that will house vendors who were displaced when Carbot Unit 2 was gutted by fire in 1998, and vendors occupying Unit 1 and Unit 3.
The proposed Carbon market complex is expected to cost some P400 million.
Daluz said they will iron out all the unresolved issues concerning the construction of the market so that when the next administration takes over, the construction can be prioritized and funded immediately.
Among the issues that has to be settled is the case that Young Builders filed against the City to demand payment for initial works it undertook in the reconstruction of Unit 2.
The councilor sought the legal office’s recommendation on whether or not the City can pursue the project even with the ongoing court case.
No prohibition
City Attorney Joseph Bernaldez said yesterday that there is no legal prohibition for the project to proceed, since the court did not issue an injunction order.
Daluz said that even with the recommendation, there will be no time for the present administration to implement the project, and no program of works and estimate (POWE) has been made for it yet.
“Even if the legal office said it’s okay to proceed, there is no POWE on that and no supplemental budget to charge it to. That is why we are preparing all the necessary documents so that when the new administration takes over, we can immediately proceed with the project, funding na lang ang trabahoon,” he said.
Bernaldez said the City can construct anything it wants in the market since the court has not decided yet on the case that Young Builders filed.
Rebuilding
Unit 2 of the Carbon Public Market was burned in 1998, and the stallholders and vendors have been waiting for the City to rebuild it.
Young Builders had been awarded by the previous administration the contract to reconstruct the burnt building for P22 million, but technical problems like unauthorized variation orders and lack of building permit prompted the Osmeña administration to cancel the contract.
Instead of reconstructing the Unit 2 building, Osmeña then decided to build a P135-million ramp so motorists can use it to go through M.C. Briones and clear Quezon Blvd. of vehicular traffic.
The P6 million Young Builders is collecting is the amount for additional works not covered in the contract it entered into with the City Government.