07/12/2010 [ tribune.net.ph ]
Reacting to an allegation made by a member of the House of Representatives, the foreign firm that has been contracted to undertake the P18.7-billion Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project denied that the contract it forged with the Philippine government, represented by the former administration of President Arroyo, who recently stepped down from office, was tainted with irregularity.
According to the Belgian dredging company Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon (BDC), the contract it sealed with the Arroyo government, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), was aboveboard as it was done in accordance with government laws.
BDC Area Manager for North Asia Dimitry Dutilleux belied the claim of newly elected Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez that the project was a “midnight deal” forged by the Arroyo administration via the DENR since the contract for it was awarded to the Belgian firm without the benefit of a public bidding.
“As early as 2009, our company has already been conducting studies on the freshwater lake, and that was part of our unsolicited proposal to the government. We were able to get the contract by legal means. We followed all the regulations, and we have complied with all of them...It is not a midnight deal. The signing of the contract was done before the transition period of the terms of (former acting DENR Secretary Eleazar) Quinto and (new DENR Secretary Horacio) Ramos,” Dutilleux maintained.
He said the BDC is willing to face any investigation and even welcomed the conduct of such a probe, which he hopes would uncover the individuals or companies that are apparently out to sabotage the project.
“We understand that there is a new administration, and we are very much willing to cooperate with it if it needs us to explain the particulars of this project,” Dutilleux said.
Last Friday, Rep. Fernandez urged Malacañang to look into the project’s contract, which he alleged was signed during the last few months of the previous administration of Arroyo.
He particularly dared the Truth Commission headed by retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide to investigate the alleged anomaly-tainted project, which he said has been kept under wraps by the DENR, raising the suspicion that it is one of the “midnight deals” entered into by the Arroyo government.
Fernandez said there was no competitive bidding conducted by the DENR for the deal and that no consultations were made with the various stakeholders of Laguna de Bay, most especially the local government units concerned.
Expected to start this year, the Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project aims to improve the ecological and environmental quality of the Laguna Lake in order to restore its life support system and provide impetus to drive social economic development of the Laguna Lake region that will benefit not only the region but also the entire country. It includes, among others, the dredging of navigational lane and the entire eight-kilometer Napindan Channel.
It also aims to improve water quality in the freshwater lake as the government plans to tap the lake as an alternative source of potable water for Metro Manila.
BDC is one of the leading dredging companies in the world with over a hundred years of experience in environmental dredging works. It has never been involved in any anomalies in the projects it has undertaken.
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