11 stalled projects in Mandaue quizzed

CEBU, Philippines – The Commission on Audit has questioned the P70 million unused funds supposedly for the 11 projects of Mandaue City which were stalled reportedly due to road-right of way (RROW) problems.

COA, in its review of Mandaue City's transactions last year, noticed that the 11 projects with a total contract cost of P70,377,647.55 have been suspended since 2013 up to the end of 2014 due to issues with RROW, resulting in "unrealized objectives" of the city's projects thereby "depriving the constituents from the benefits" of these.

The audit report said the city should have "addressed first by exercising due prudence" to comply with the requirements prior to the approval of the budget, as what is enshrined in Section 3 (i), Annex A of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

This section of the said law states that "no program of work for any project shall be approved without detailed engineering," including the schedule of the acquisition of the RROW affected by the proposed projects.

In the last quarter of last year, the city's report of government projects put the P70-million programs as suspended because of RROW problems and pending approval of the variation order.

COA said the failure to implement these projects is "disadvantageous to the city government," as the prices of the materials are constantly increasing and the benefits should have been enjoyed by the people when these were already completed as planned.

Also, "the cost incurred for the partial construction made may result in loss of government funds and exposes the same to further deterioration due to unnecesarry delay in their completion," said COA.

COA has directed Mayor Jonas Cortes to order concerned project engineers and concerned city officials to address and resolve the issues and implement them fully. (FREEMAN)