Cebu City to focus on CCMC’s ‘interiors’

THE Cebu City Government plans to complete several floors of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) using P650 million in unutilized funds from a previously terminated contract.

“The focus of this P650 million is the completion of the internal of the building,” said City Councilor Jerry Guardo on Monday, June 24, 2024. “This includes the mechanism, the electrical, air-conditioning, the partitions and repainting. That will make it functional and operational and we can already start to accommodate patients.”

The funds, originally part of a P1 billion contract that was signed during the administration of the late mayor Edgardo Labella, will be used to complete the third floor, build the fourth to sixth floors, as well as part of the seventh floor.

Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia aims to rebid the project to make the CCMC functional and operational.

Guardo, who chairs the infrastructure committee, said elevators will be a priority in the budget to improve patient transport within the hospital.

The project is expected to be awarded to a contractor by the first week of August, with construction estimated to take six months.

Guardo assured that the project will not be affected by the upcoming election ban.

He said additional funds will be needed for the eighth to 10th floors since the current funding will only cover work up to the seventh floor.

SunStar Cebu initially reported on Sunday, June 23, that the amount available was P700 million, but the local legislator clarified that the number was rounded off.

He said that what’s available is between P648 million and P650 million.

Work on the upper floors of the CCMC was halted when the City terminated the contract of M.E. Sicat Construction to build these floors in November 2022. / ELIANAH URSAL, UP CEBU INTERN