The Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) rubberized track oval. | [FILE PHOTO] Glendale Rosal
Shaun Doherty, owner of the SBD Builders which is the contractor responsible for the renovation of the CCSC track oval, emphasized this during an interview with reporters on Monday as he belied allegations that the track oval was made of substandard materials.
The word “substandard” was also used in the demand letter of the athlete who got injured after she stumbled at the damaged part of the track oval last August.
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Consequently, the athlete’s camp sought for P880,000 which was the amount of the total damages incurred by the athlete.
Primary reason for damage
Doherty said the primary reason for the track oval’s damage were the activities not related to sports like cultural events that would require heavy and transportation equipment.
The track oval was renovated primarily for the city’s hosting of the Palarong Pambansa 2024 last July.
“Pero wa man tay mahimo kay naa man gihapoy activities diha kay sports complex man na. Dapat unta ana ang mga cultural events nato ibutang sa cultural center not in sports center kay maguba ra gihapon na,” Doherty said.
(But we cannot do anything about that because there are still activities that will be held there because it is a sports complex. What should be done is that our cultural events we will hold it at a cultural center and not in a sports center because that [sports center] will still be damaged.)
He said that the track oval was ideal for track and field events and even the weather conditions were not a factor in damaging the oval.
Nonetheless, their top priority now is to repair its damaged area. He also could not provide the timeframe for its completion since they would depend on the weather conditions, especially in the curing period.
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Doherty said the damaged part only measured 300 to 400 square meters, but they would extend the repair to 600 square meters.
Moreover, Doherty insisted that the track oval they renovated was not substandard.
“Dili na siya substandard. That rubber is the same rubber that we use all over the world. There is no substandard nga material nga gibutang diha,” he clarified.
(That is not substandard. That rubber is the same rubber that we use all over the world. There is no substandard material that we placed there.)
Contractor on athlete’s warning
As for the athlete’s camp who warned to file a case against him, Doherty said his legal counsel would also be ready to answer to the complainant.
Meanwhile, Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said in a separate interview that the contractor already assured him that the track oval would be fixed.
But since the materials for the repair would be coming from China, Garcia could not yet provide the specific timeframe when the repairs would start and end.
Garcia said the contractor told him that they would first repair the frontage that measures 600 square meters of the oval. It is also the part that clearly showed damages.
He said the contractor told him that it would take them a week or two to put the rubber granules and another two weeks for the curing period.
“Nagexpect ko nga masirado gyud og unsa nga portion ang ilang ayuhon for about a month gyud. Pero, sagdi lang kay layo pa to ang Sinulog. Enero pa tong Sinulog which is the next time nga mogamit ta (CCSC) as a major event,” Garcia said.
(We are expecting that they will close the portion that they will repair for a month. But, that is okay because Sinulog is still far away. The Sinulog is still in January, which is the next time that we will use it (CCSC) as a major event (venue).)
Free day pass for seniors
Meanwhile, Garcia granted the registered senior citizens a free day pass to use the track oval to encourage them to exercise for their health.
Garcia said he proposed that senior citizens could have their free days pass on Mondays and Wednesdays
He said he planned to extend the privilege to the City Hall employees on these days.
Garcia said there would already be a procurement law, so if there would be some delays and lapses, the penalties that the contractor would face would already be laid out, especially in terms of liquidated damage.
“That is something that we’ll look into. Sa pagkakaron, maghuwat ko og naa bay recommendation coming from Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) or from the legal office,” Garcia said.
(That is something that we’ll look into. For now, we will wait if there will be a recommendation coming from the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) or from the legal office.)
However, as of press time, the acting mayor said they had yet to review the liability of the contractor.
Track oval repairs
Garcia said the repairs of the track oval would be a back job and the Cebu City government would not need to pay anything for it.
As for the injured athlete’s case, Garcia said they were already addressing the matter in which they would be checking the videos captured in the CCSC’s CCTV cameras to see how the athlete got injured.
Once he would receive the report from revisiting the CCTV footage, he would be giving it to the complainant and the contractor for their decision.
Garcia also clarified that the CCSC would remain open to the public. The contractor will just cordon off the areas that would need repair, he added.