Mayor, city administrator to check projects before payment

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – All city government-funded infrastructure projects will have to undergo inspection by no less than Mayor Benjamin Magalong and City Administrator Engr. Bonifacio Dela Peña before the city pays the construction costs.

This is to ensure that no contractors will violate their programs of work and deliver only quality projects to the city.

“               It is about time that we compel contractors to undertake quality projects.  We can decide not to pay contractors with substandard or defective works.  We want quality projects that are commensurate to their costs,” the mayor said as he encouraged anew residents to help in monitoring and reporting ongoing projects that are substandard.

Dela Peña who heads the Bids and Awards Committee for infrastructure of the city said he and the mayor initially thought of limiting the personal inspection only to projects costing P500 and above but they later decided to include even those with less project costs.

As per the new procedure, the inspection will happen before the city makes the second and final payment for the project and those that passed will be issued a clearance to collect the final payment.

Dela Peña said they will not hesitate to implement the ‘remove and replace’ policy for projects that will not pass the inspection.

He said this is crucial especially that the city is bent on implementing several major projects starting 2020.

The city is at the threshold of a construction boom by 2020 with some P5.3 billion worth of programs, projects and activities (PPAs) lined up under the Annual Investment Plan.

                Dela Peña said more than ten contractors have been accredited by the BAC which had adopted stricter requirements in pre-qualifying contractors to ensure that only competent once will be awarded projects.

The mayor said he does not have any linkage with any contractor and therefore cannot be influenced in his decisions.

The city officials earlier revisited and strengthened the project monitoring procedures after numerous projects including school improvement jobs were found to be substandard.