Completed but unbidded projects pose dilemma for city
THE Dagupan City government is in a dilemma. Should the government pay contractors for completed projects that didn’t go through the required bidding process? How should the unfinished yet unbidded projects be considered?
The questions arose after Mayor Belen Fernandez was informed of the pending claims before the city government demanding payments.
She was prompted to consult the city auditor Virgilio Quinto how to respond to the issues without being made accountable for the irregularities committed by her predecessor, Mayor Benjamin Lim.
Among the contentious issues that need to be resolved is how to process the completed two-storey building constructed at the premises of the Dagupan Poolsite purportedly for a library.
The contractor completed the project without a contract with the city government since no pubic bidding was conducted for it.
The city engineer’s office wanted to begin occupying the unused building but Quinto advised City Engineer Virginia Rosario not to proceed since its utilization would indicate acceptance of the liability without the proper processing of the project.
Another completed project found to have been constructed without the required bidding was the drainage system in Barangay Lucao.
City Planning and Development Coordinator Romeo Rosario, chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) reported at the last executive session that there no records left in by the past BAC about these projects.
Rosario said some of these projects did not go through public bidding, but had purchased orders (POs) only without contracts, awards and notice to proceed.
He did not identify the contractors of the projects who took the risks without the necessary supporting documents.
“To pay anybody at this point and time is even very risky.” said Rosario.
He said the city hall is at a loss who to officially communicate with about the missing documents of the projects in question.
Quinto had also advised the mayor to demand for the return of the almost P3 million mobilization fund paid to the contractor ASS Construction for the construction of the aborted lying-in hospital.
Another questionable project is the undelivered floating backhoe, which was ordered by the Lim administration believed to be overpriced.
While City Engineer Virginia Rosario said her office badly needs the backhoe to be used in dredging heavily silted channels, rivers and creeks, she cannot ask for it under the circumstances.
Other projects that were constructed sans any public bidding except approved purchased orders which means that they were funded are: a building in barangay Bonuan Binloc, a tread mill for city government employees under the care of the Asenso cooperative, several cartons of medicines, and seeds for a livelihood program.
Finally, the auditor’s advice: to write to contractors claiming payments to submit documents to back their claims and which will need to be validated.
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