Capitol told: Expedite water supply, road projects

THE Commission on Audit (COA) called on the provincial government last week to help speed up the implementation of P306.9 million worth of projects in the province funded mostly by loans from the World Bank (WB).

In its annual audit report covering last year’s projects, COA said the province failed to implement sub-projects under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

The PRDP is an offshoot of the second phase of the Mindanao Rural Development Project (MRDP) which is aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity through building infrastructure and postharvest facilities.

Most of the projects cover farm-to-market roads in towns like San Remigio and Santander along with a potable water supply project in Alegria town.

The projects are scheduled for completion in 2022.

Based on COA’s report, only the potable water supply project in Alegria received a budget of P11.4 million out of an allocated budget of P95 million on Sept. 26 last year.

Funding for the rehabilitation of a farm-to-market road in Barangay Kinawahan to Barangay Canagahan, San Remigio town worth P27.9 million had yet to be released due to lack of requirements.

“Delays in the implementation of these projects would be very disadvantageous to the intended beneficiaries of the province of Cebu,” COA said.

Christopher Lucero, project manager of the Provincial Project Management and Implementation Unit (PPMIU), said it is up to local governments where the projects are being implemented to coordinate with the provincial government in order to process the requirements.

“The PPMIU could not directly implement a sub-project without the necessary document like the feasibility study, detailed engineering design and social and environmental safeguards,” Lucero said.

He said preparing documents for a single sub-project would take four to seven months, depending on the scope of works specified on that project.

“No loan is released by World Bank if any of these documents fail to meet their requirements,” Lucero said.

He said the initial bidding for the Alegria potable water supply project failed due to higher specifications from the World Bank.

COA called on the PPMIU and other Capitol agencies to coordinate with the Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) and Project Support Office (PSO) of PRDP in order to avoid further delays in the projects.