MMDA wasted P9 million on poorly planned loading bays - COA

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) wasted more than P9 million of the government’s money by putting up structures such as loading bays along Commonwealth Avenue that were later removed due to “lack of planning” on the part of the agency, the Commission on Audit (COA) stated in a report released earlier this month.

“In sum, the total cost of demolished/removed structures is P9.59 million exclusive of manpower and other expenses related to the removal and demolition of such structures,” the COA said in its report on the 2008 operations of the MMDA.

“The construction and the subsequent removal of seven loading bays and sidewalk pavements due to lack of proper planning and thorough studies on the necessity of putting up the structures … resulted in wastage of government funds,” it stated.

According to the report, 14 of the planned 16 loading and unloading bays were constructed along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City for P20.11 million. But during an inspection by state auditors, they found out that seven of the bays were already removed.

“The removal of these structures could have been avoided had management thoroughly conducted prior studies/evaluation on the necessity of putting up such structures. As per computation submitted by our technical staff, the cost of the seven removed loading and unloading bays amounted to P8.80 million,” the report said.

State auditors also found out that the newly constructed sidewalk pavement near a U-turn slot on Commonwealth Avenue was also demolished because of the “constriction of roadways brought about by the constructed modified U-turn slot.”

The COA said there were apparent lapses on the part of the MMDA, noting that the agency should put up first the modified U-turn slot before constructing the sidewalk pavement. The cost of the sidewalk pavement that was eventually removed cost P790,409.66.

In a response last March, Neomie Recio, officer-in-charge of the MMDA’s Traffic Engineering Office, said the required 95-meter road right-of-way was not achieved due to problems with squatters and other affected stakeholders.

But the COA said “management should have settled or resolved the problem on road right-of-way during the pre-construction stage rather than during the project implementation.”