Sunday, June 15, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
FUNDS are already available as payment for properties, including the critical lots, affected by the flyover construction in Banilad that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 will start asking owners to sign the contracts tomorrow.
Contractor WTG Construction and Development Corp. will also start widening Gov. Manuel Cuenco Ave., specifically by the construction area at the A.S. Fortuna St. junction, to create side roads for motorists to use, as it races to meet the targeted July 31 completion.
Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City north district) yesterday said that with President Arroyo’s instruction to prioritize the funds for the flyover, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released last Friday an agency budget matrix for P80 million.
That is aside from the P40 million, which is also already available, based on the notification del Mar received four days ago.
All that needs to be done now is for the DPWH to submit the signed contracts to the DBM, which will issue a Notice of Cash Allocation in the names of the owners.
Before the availability of the P80 million, WTG, aside from doing away with profit by offering a bid of just P86.9 million, was also willing to receive not a single centavo from the second tranche of P40 million, to which del Mar was grateful.
The amount was supposedly intended as additional payment for the project, but WTG agreed to instead have the amount as payment for the critical lots.
Partial payments
But with the P80 million, partial payments can be made for the other lot owners, aside from payment for nine critical lots that should be purchased as soon possible for the widening to proceed.
“There is nothing now to stop the completion (of the flyover) by the end of next month, as promised by the contractor…The money is more than enough to clear the critical areas,” del Mar said.
Del Mar, DPWH 7 legal counsel Agustinito Hermoso, Cebu City District Engineer Nicomedes Leonor, and WTG project engineer Christopher Semilla met with reporters yesterday to give an update on the project.
The congressman said it was their last meeting prior to an inspection, when the flyover girders are already in place, hopefully by next week.
Brokered by City Councilor Leah Japson, former Banilad barangay captain, the lot owners last week already agreed to issue entry permits even without the payment as concession with the DPWH 7 for WTG to start the widening.
But Hermoso felt it fair to have them sign the contracts only when the money is ready.
‘Under protest’
The owners acceded to the P15,500 per square meter valuation “under protest,” and will ask the court to be the one to decide the value of their properties, which they pegged at P25,000 to P30,000 per square meter.
Yesterday, del Mar asked Leonor and Hermoso to accompany Semilla tomorrow in entering the properties to start the widening.
Specifically, WTG will also start building a new fence for the Go family, which made it a condition before their current fence should be torn down to give way for the construction.
With the announcement, del Mar, the DPWH, and WTG erased fears and jokes that the flyover will be completed beyond July 31, or still by July, but in 2009.
Also, the road need not be closed when WTG starts placing the girders and span, as there will already be a side road each for north-bound and south-bound traffic.
Del Mar thanked Arroyo for having the DBM prioritize the Banilad flyover budget for the project to be finished still by July 31.
While the contracted period is 300 days, or until Nov. 31 after construction started last Feb. 1, the contractor acceded to minimize the inconvenience as much as possible.
WTG promised to complete the project on July 31 by having its personnel work 24 hours a day. (RHM)
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