Recla road project to go on

CEBU, Philippines - The two road concreting projects at Third Avenue and J.L. Briones Street in the North Reclamation Area worth P33.8 million will be pursued as the Bids and Awards Committee already awarded the projects to two contractors.

This as Cebu City Engineer Kenneth Enriquez also apologized to the members of the City Council yesterday for charging the expenses of the concreting projects to the budget already allotted for the road concreting of the mountain barangays.

“Mo-apologize lang g’yud ko ani kay I would accept it as lapse g’yud ni sa akong part,” Enriquez said during the executive session yesterday.

Enriquez, City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete, Budget Officer Nelfa Briones and City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez, appeared before the City Council yesterday to explain to city legislators why the budget intended for the mountain barangays was used for the road concreting.

“Ako na lang gi-recommend ni Mayor (Michael) Rama nga adto na lang i-charge ang bayad pagpasemento sa mga karsada sa north reclamation area sa budget nga para unta sa karsada sa bukid kay ngil-ad na g’yud kaayo ang karsada sa NRA,” she said.

Councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, chairwoman of the City Council’s committee on budget and finance, is worried because now they have to explain to the residents of mountain barangays why the road concreting projects in their areas have been cancelled.

Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young and some other city councilors believe Enriquez was not telling the truth because Young said “Kang mayor Rama man kana nga order nga sementohon ang mga karsada sa NRA.. dili man kana imo.”

Although Young and the city councilors did not believe Enriquez they accepted her apology.

Poblete also explained to the council that the city was forced to use the amount allotted for the mountain roads because the NRA roads are already dilapidated.

Rama said he sees no problem because he allocated several barangay-based projects, including road concreting in the mountain barangays, in his 2012 budget that is scheduled to be tackled by the City Council on November 4.

The concreting of Third Avenue was awarded to GOWL Builders at P18,069,537 while WTG Construction also won the bidding for the concreting of J.L. Briones Street amounting to P15,818,322. (FREEMAN)