It is surprising how government agencies behave in the face of a crisis and adversity. And how it fails to take addvantage of opportunities; how common sense have departed the established procedures in the planning and implementation of projects.
These are my conclusions when I think of examples of such miscues and inefficiencies.
Take the case of substandard materials in the construction of roads and other infrastructure. I have learned that contractors cheat by using thinner and lower quality steel bars and cement mixtures that are below the standard requirements.
I learned that at the Tacloban City Development Project the design of the gigantic roof is questionable because it involved a change in design that resulted in the structure becoming more expensive, with a longerconstruction period and difficult to construct using a technology that required nearly a hundred welders.
Several equipment specifications were changed to a lower quality to save on cost. But this shift can render the equipment subject to breakdown and frequent repair. In other words, high maintenance cost, negating the savings and jeopardizing smooth operations.
In the course of my involvement in the monitoring of big ticket projects in the Eastern Visayas region, reliable sources informed me of the rampart substition of materials very different from those indicated in the plans used in the bidding for these projects.
It is a double whammy. A large chunk of the budget for infrastructure is lost to corruption. On top of this and as a result, substandard materials are used thus explaining the constant repair of roads.
Another expensive example is the delay in the construction of the Babatngon, Leyte Port (transhipment hub) because the Philipine Ports Authority did not ensure that it had an Environmental Compliance Certificate prior to the issuance of the Notice to Proceed to the Contractor, MAC Builders of Ormoc City. It is the same company that performed so badly in Phase I of the Tacloban Airport Develoment Project that its performance reached an awful negative 30 plus slippage.
This is a level of inefficiency high enough to cause the termination of its contract and disqualification in any government project implementation in the next several years. But this contractor is solidly exceptional. True to form, as earlier mentioned, the port project is delayed right at the starting block. So what else is new. It is expected. A contractor that has such a bad track record will always have a bad track record. It must shape-up fast or go bust, for the sake of regional prosperity.
There are several big ticket projects hereabouts that will use billions of pesos of taxpayers’ money. Each one is having delays and other imoplementation problems.
It must be stressful to many officials to experience this. But the projects must go on and be completed. The funds spent should not go to total waste. These are not monuments of greatness. The bureacracy in the region identified them after a long process of project evaluation. The implementors must do it the right way, no shortcuts, and no alibis for delays. We are watching.
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