MORE illegal disbursements for touted “value engineering” projects of the outgoing Lim administration have been uncovered at city hall as Acting-Mayor Belen Fernandez scrambles to look for funds to pay mounting city obligations and claims by creditors.

Foremost of these is a two-storey building at the vicinity of the Dagupan Pool Site which was found to have been constructed and completed without the benefit of public bidding. It was not known what the building was intended for.

The still unidentified contractor built the structure without an official award from the Bidding and Awards Committee (BAC).

This same situation was found in the Daongan ed Dawel project, the dock for the Dagupan River Cruise project, which Lim tagged as the first of “value engineering” projects wherein actual costs could only be established after the construction and thus bidding became a mere exercise for compliance favoring the contractor in violation of existing laws on public bidding.

SCHOOL BUILDING

Another controversial project is the three-storey new school that cost the city P50 million intended to accommodate some 200 pupils from the Guadiz Elementary School (GES), which Lim wanted vacated to give way to his proposed P70 million proposed Maternal and Child Lying-in Clinic.

Meanwhile, City Schools Superintendent Gloria Torres Torres revealed that the Department of Education has officially turned down the request of Lim to transfer the GES pupils to the 3-storey building.

DONATIONS

Fernandez said some P600 million were donated by the city to different non-government and private professional organizations since Lim began his term in 2010 for varied reasons and projects.

Fernandez noted that the most of the millions donated to NGOs and organizations did not support projects to the poor communities in the city.

The day-care teachers have complained to Fernandez that their salaries for several months have not been paid and attributed the failure to the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO).

Fernandez discovered that the CSWDO lied to her when it reported that the P3 million fund from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to bankroll the feeding program for malnourished children was already exhausted.

In fact, records show that half of the amount is intact and Fernandez suspects that an anomalous arrangement has made to make the city hall employees cooperative “Asenso” have full access to the fund as the exclusive supplier for the feeding program.

P9 M WITHDRAWALS

The acting mayor also discovered that P9 million, not P3 million, was withdrawn from the city coffer to support this year’s Bangus Festival.  Another P9 million was withdrawn to fund a recent city fiesta.

The chairmen of the executive committees of the city fiesta and Bangus Festival under the Lim administration, namely Maximo Alexis Tan, Councilors Brian Lim, Guillermo Vallejos and Red Erfe-Mejia, did not submit financial reports to the city council. Newly re-elected councilor Alvin Coquia has pledged to submit his report for the 2012 Bangus Festival.

Fernandez also wondered why the Lim administration hired and paid 69 consultants to keep city going. “What were they doing?” she asked.

Back to Homepage

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments