CH committee summons 11 barangays with shoddy projects

CEBU, Philippines - Six of the 11 barangays identified to have implemented substandard projects were summoned today by the members of the City Hall fact-finding committee for interview while the rest will appear on Thursday.

The committee composed of Lawyers Dominic Diño, Jose Mari Poblete, Joseph Bernaldez and Engineer Eugene Elizalde told the officials of these 11 barangays to prepare the documents relative to the alleged substandard projects.

The six barangays that are scheduled to appear before the members of the committee today are Babag, Sudlon I, Sudlon II, Bonbon, Toong and Pamutan.

Barangays Sapangdaku, Kalunasan, Suba, Inayawan and Sinsin are scheduled on February 10.

Diño said they have informed the barangay officials to produce all the documents related to the projects to shed light on the alleged irregularities in its implementation.

The documents that the committee needs include the Program of Works and Estimates, bidding proofs that shall certify that proper bidding was conducted and the contract with the construction company.   Once the committee is done with the interviews of the barangay captains and their concerned officials, the members will start the deliberation and assessment to find out if there is a need to call the contractors of the projects.

Diño said that they have no knowledge yet who are the contractors of these alleged substandard projects as the documents and implementation were all done at the barangay level.

The committee had already summoned the City Accounting, City Treasurer and City Engineering from whom they were able to get initial inputs.

Barangays Babag, Sudlon I, Sudlon II, Bonbon, Toong, Pamutan, Sinsin and Sapangdaku are investigated for their substandard road concreting projects.

Kalunasan is investigated for its riverbank protection or riprap project, Suba for its covered court and Inayawan for its drainage system.

The substandard projects were discovered after the inspection conducted by a team from the Department of Public Works and Highways in Manila which Representative Tomas Osmeña has commissioned.   (FREEMAN NEWS)