Barangay officials asked to monitor P600M projects

The Cebu City government will require barangay officials to help monitor the hundreds of millions of pesos worth of infrastructure projects to be implemented in their area.

“Since these projects will be implemented in their respective localities, we encourage the barangays to monitor and look after the contractors implementing the projects in their respective areas and report to us,” City Engr. Jose Marie Poblete told reporters.

During yesterday’s forum for media leaders, Poblete also reported a backlog of P600 million worth of infrastructure projects in Cebu City.

Of that amount, P400 million worth of project were  already bidded out but have yet to be implemented.

Poblete said P200 million will go to drainage projects charged under the approved Lump Sum Appropriations. City Council approval is needed before these are implemented.

Documentation
The remaining P200 million worth of projects, some dating back three years ago, still have to be bidded out.

Poblete said they hope to bid out the remaining projects before the year  ends.

“Most of these projects have problems with documentation and preparation of the Program of Works and Estimates (POWEs). There are also projects that need road right-of-way acquisition while some private owners affected by the projects don’t agree with it,” Poblete said.

“It’s really the focus of our office now and we’re trying our best to bid these projects out before the year ends so that we can face 2015 with new projects,” Poblete said.

Aside from the backlog, Poblete also reported that close to a billion pesos of infrastructure projects are also ongoing within the city.

He said P588.5 million worth of projects are ongoing while P344 million have also started.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama told his department heads to support Poblete who he also named as the city’s flagship projects czar.