City Hall to use old construction materials for drainage projects

CEBU, Philippines - The construction materials that have been sitting at the stockyard at the South Road Properties for a long time now will be used for the drainage projects of the city.

This is according to City Engineer Kenneth Carmelita Enriquez in response to the query of City Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias about the culverts, bags of cement, hollow blocks and steel bars at the engineering stockyard at the SRP.

In his presentation before the council, Cabarrubias said the 100 pieces of 60-inch wide culverts are now starting to darken, an indication that it has been kept in the area for at least decade.

About 400 sacks of cement have also started to harden while the hollow blocks are beginning to break.

Cabarrubias said the culverts and cement were intended for the city’s “self-help” drainage project and drainage maintenance project.

But Enriquez said the culvert at the SRP will be used for the improvement of the drainage project of the city. She said a team has been formed to oversee and implement the city’s drainage project by administration.

Enriquez, who is city engineer for about five months now, said the alleged substandard hollow blocks are stocks from the city’s self-help project under the Department of Welfare for the Urban Poor.

The projects by the urban poor homeowners associations last year got P3.6 million. This includes the 48 approved projects like the construction and repair of multi-purpose halls, women’s livelihood centers, community stages, foot bridges, sheds and drainage canals.

As to the self-help projects, these will be implemented in the different barangays including Duljo Fatima, Labangon, Quiot, Punta Prinsesa, Calamba, Guadalupe, Bulacao, Pasil, Pardo, Kalunasan, Buhisan, Capitol Site, Banawa, Inayawan, Kinasang-an, Mambaling, Lahug and Pit-os.

City Hall’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) has prepared the program of works and estimates (Powe) for the projects, which it will implement.

 “Those are stocks from the Self-Help Project of the city under DWUP. The distribution is under their office and not DEPW,” Enriquez said.

As to the hardened cement, Enriquez said these were old stocks and have been there before she assumed as city engineer and when their office was still in the North Reclamation Area. 

Enriquez said that when they transferred to SRP in 2007, the DEPW utilized it as an overlay on the ground where new stocks of cement will be piled.

“Cements under my watch were properly distributed and utilized since 2008 to date,” she said.

Philip Zafra, chief of staff of Mayor Michael Rama, said the mayor already issued a memorandum to Enriquez that all requests for self-help projects including footpaths shall be addressed to the Office of the Mayor.

Zafra said the purpose of the new set-up is to have proper coordination and distribution of the number of footpaths and monitoring of the self-help projects. — (FREEMAN)