Rama creates special committee

CEBU, Philippines - A special committee will be created by Cebu City Hall to check on construction materials and other materials that have been sitting at the stockyard at the South Road Properties (SRP).

“We create a special team to check, not to witch-hunt, in order that the same problem will not be repeated again,” Mayor Michael Rama said, adding that he does not want a repeat of the incident while he is in office.

City Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias, in a privilege speech, had cited that 100 pieces of culverts have started to darken, bags of cements already hardened and hundreds of allegedly substandard hollow blocks are sitting at the SRP.

Rama said that what happened should serve as an eye-opener to all department heads as he will not hesitate to impose sanctions on anyone negligent in their task.

Rama also said the cement, which is supposedly intended for the city’s self-help drainage and maintenance projects, must be used so these will not be put to waste.

Meanwhile, Rama said he will not immediately blacklist or ban the MLDSR Construction, which is under fire over the alleged structural defect in the construction of the two-storey Toong Integrated School.

The building, with six classrooms, has cracks in the columns, beams, slabs and walls joints due to failure of concrete.

Rama said that it is “quite aggressive” and “harsh” for the city government to impose a ban and have the company blacklisted. The city needs to distinguish the gravity of the defects, whether these can be corrected.

The MLDSR admitted that the problem could have been in the mixture of the cement and promised to correct the defects since there is a warranty for structural defects.

The MLDSR has two pending contracts with the city government amounting to P3 million. It covers the renovation of flooring tiles in Carbon Market Unit I and the construction of the proposed extension of Multi-purpose building in Barangay Busay. (FREEMAN)