Tom submits docs on "sale of scrap"

CEBU, Philippines - Mayor Tomas Osmeña has formally asked the Commission on Audit and the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the possibility that the steel bars that were donated by the two Japanese contractors to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were sold by its officials without bidding and were used as part of the materials in constructing the Cebu International Convention Center.

 Osmeña furnished COA and Ombudsman with machine copies of the 40 pages long list containing the steel products and other materials that were donated to the DPWH by two Japanese contractors – Taisei Corporation and Marubeni Corporation Joint Venture, among the contractors of the Cebu South Coastal Road Project.

The mayor refused to reveal the source of the documents, but one of the documents is the report of Engr. Ireneo S. Yee Jr. of DPWH-7, who made such report for then DPWH regional director Roberto Lala through the chief of the agency’s planning and design division.

The report dated August 11, 2006 said Yee was verbally ordered by Lala to prepare an inventory of the salvaged steel materials stocked at the agency’s compound at the South Reclamation Area that were turned over by the two Japanese contractors from the Cebu South Coastal Road Project.

The coastal road project starts from the corner of the national highway in Lawaan, Talisay passing through the South Road Properties and ends up in Plaza Independencia.

Osmeña said that the information he received is that after the completion of the project undertaken by the two Japanese contractors, the latter have decided to donate to the DPWH the unused steel materials, although what was not stated in Yee’s report was the date when the steel materials were donated.

“I am not an expert about engineering so I do not know how much the total amount of the donated steel, but these were listed in about 40 pages of bond papers,” Osmeña said showing the documents to reporters.

It was also stated in Yee’s report that during the inventory, the donated steel were no longer fit to be used for any structural project.

“Given its present physical condition, it is no longer advisable to make it as part of any structural function, particularly in the present DPWH building project,” Yee said.

He then suggested to dispose the said items so that it can generate income for DPWH, aside from getting rid of its presence which Yee said posed as a hazard.

The mayor said the issue is worth looking into by the COA and Ombudsman because he received a report that after the DPWH sold them, it was used in the construction of the CICC, the venue of the summit of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in January 2007.

DPWH-7 assistant regional director Marlina Alviso refused to comment about the issue when The Freeman contacted her yesterday afternoon.

Osmeña said the Cebu provincial officials should be happy of what he did because they will have enough reason not to pay the contractor of CICC of additional P263 million if proven that said contractor used scrap steel materials for the project.

The Freeman tried but failed to get in touch with any officials of the contractor of CICC.

But the mayor wonders why the Capitol officials have already announced that they are ready to pay WT Construction the P263 million in additional expenses.

If the province will pay the P263 million additional cost that was claimed by the private contractor, the CICC already costs more than P800 million and Osmeña said it is not worth that amount.

“Magduda ang mga tawo kun dili ba kaha ni pamuhonan para sa umaabot eleksyon,” Osmeña said. —Rene U. Borromeo/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)