70% NEGATIVE SLIPPAGE
Today, April 12, 2015 is the deadline for the completion of phase 3 of the Alburquerque Cluster Sanitary Landill (ACSLF) but according to Albur Mayor Efren Tungol – much of the construction works are still less than halfway done.
According to Tungol during an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, an independent assessment was done under the Contractor Performance Evaluation System (CPES) of TIEZA recently and confirmed the huge negative slippage of 70.8%.
The CPES findings validated the figures of the Municipal Inspectorate Team headed by Municipal Engineer Fe Culiao of a negative slippage of 70.14%.
Despite the earlier insistence of Atty. Guller Asido, TIEZA Assistant Chief Operating Officer that as of January 14, 2015 negative slippage was only a mere -4.49%, TIEZA grudgingly accepted the findings of CPES and is now looking for ways to fast track the completion of the project, according to Tungol.
According to Tungol, “if TIEZA takes a serious effort to remedy the shortfall from Lourel Construction, the project contractor, the ACSLF will be completed by August, 2015”,
The LGU of Alburquerque will take over the operation, management, administration and maintenance of the Sanitary Landfill after its completion based on an existing agreement signed between the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), the forerunner of the TIEZA and Alburquerque on February 12, 2007.
As early as February 23, 2015 a resolution was unanimously passed by the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Alburquerque expressing support to the recommendation of the Municipal Inspectorate Team for the termination of the contract between the Tourism Infrastructure and Economic Zone Authority (TIEZA) and Lourel Development Corporation, contractor of the ACSLF phase lll.
The resolution clearly showed the frustration of the municipal officials over TIEZA’s apparent disregard on the deficiencies and requests by the Inspectorate Team that were ignored and were not given due course and appropriate action.
The lack of a stay in consultant and the high percentage of negative slippage that would shown a low percentage of actual accomplishment vis-a-vis schedule of accomplishment pushed the SB for the cancellation of the contract.
The failure of TIEZA to heed the request for the relocation of the training center and a revised program of works for the motor pool due to poor siting of the facilities was also mentioned in the resolution.
BOTCHED FIGURES
Mired in controversy since its inception, the 6.9 hectare landfill located in Barangay Dangay, Alburquerque was slated to be finished within 210 calendar days as provided in the bid documents issued by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and signed by Atty. Guller Acido, Bids and Awards Committee Chair.
As the deadline came closer, conflicting figures surfaced over the extent of completion based on project status reports from TIEZA and the Municipal Inspectorate Team created by Tungol to conduct regular survey, monitoring and inspection of the P55,817,157.27 phase lll of the P300 million project.
Started on September 15, 2014, project status report submitted by the Municipal Inspectorate Team as of March 15, 2015 showed that work accomplishment by the contractor was a dismal 27.48% with a negative slippage of -70.18%.
But TIEZA, based on the report of the project engineer revealed that as of January 14, 2015 work accomplisment was already at 33.36% with a negative slippage of -72.93%.
However, Tungol was irked when informed by Asido, that the accomplishment and negative slippage were based on an approved revised work schedule.
“Incredible and bloated figures of work accomplishments” Tungol lashed at Asido for feeding on “fallacious information” despite the absence of a stay in consultant to oversee the ongoing construction for compliance of plans, standards and specifications.
Alburquerque Municipal Engineer Fe Culiao reported that Lourel Construction as incurred four consecutive negative slippages of 72.69% since tha start of phase lll on September 15, 2014.
The four reported consecutive slippages is enough grounds to terminate the contract as provided by the Handbook on Philippine Government Procurement Implementing Rules and Regulations, according to Tungol.
The ACSLF was conceptualized by a group of eleven towns to put up a common landfill site for their residual wastes with Alburquerque designated as the location.
Balilihan, Corella, Cortes, Dauis, Lila, Loboc, Maribojoc, Panglao, Sikatuna and Tagbilaran City will have to put up with the delay of the landfill project while looking for sites to dump their growing garbage (CMV)