ONE month after the task force was formed to review the first two phases of Cebu City’s modern traffic light system, the Office of the Mayor has not received a report or recommendation.
In a press conference on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said the task force has initially gathered all relevant documents for Phase 1 of the project as a basis for review, while document gathering for Phase 2 is still underway.
Garcia explained that without the recommendation or report from the task force, the City would have no basis for its reply to the ultimatum of the project’s supplier, demanding full payment.
He said the suppliers, Triune Electronics Systems Inc. and Cylix Tech CCTV, have already sought out the Office of the Ombudsman for intervention after no payment of the P480 million contract price for the first two phases has been made.
Garcia said he wants to resolve the issues before the City Government will be summoned for a preliminary investigation.
On Sept. 30, Garcia assigned a task force, led by Ronald “Raddy” Diola, to investigate the contracts and deliverables of the two-phase project and recommend actions to Garcia.
The task force’s taks is to investigate reports of overpricing and assess the system’s suitability.
Last Oct. 21, Garcia said the City Government had already paid 90 percent of the P232 million contract for Phase 1 and made a 15 percent down payment on the P248 million cost of Phase 2.
The first phase of the project covers 18 intersections along Gen. Maxilom Ave., Serging Osmeña Blvd. and
Colon St.
‘Compromise agreement’
Meanwhile, Garcia agreed with City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco’s suggestion of a compromise agreement and City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera’s request for a fraud audit through the Commission on Audit.
Garcia said the proposed compromise agreement, which would allow the City Government to settle its outstanding obligation to the supplier, must be favorable to the City. He said all provisions and stipulations in the proposed agreement must be thoroughly vetted.
Cuenco, chair of the committee on transportation, previously told SunStar Cebu that both the supplier and the City Government have agreed to a payment of P50 million instead of paying the actual outstanding balance.
In return, the supplier will activate the initially delivered equipment that has yet to be fully utilized, ensuring that the newly installed modern traffic lights are operational. There will also be an agreement to forgo any lawsuits related to the project.
Phases 1 and 2 of the city’s modern traffic lights system were launched in 2020 during the time of the late mayor Edgardo Labella.
The suppliers initially replaced more than 40-year-old city traffic lights at around 60 intersections, first installed by the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System. These were replaced with modern digital traffic signal lights and improvements including underground cables, high-definition cameras, and artificial intelligence to detect traffic flow and automatically adjust signal timing.” / EHP