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A KNOWN critic of the Osmeña administration said towing companies hired by City Hall were raking in money with proceeds of traffic fines going directly to the firms instead of the city coffers.
In a letter to the Commission on Audit (COA), barangay Tinago captain Joel Garganera said the traffic violation fines and storage fees related to towing operations were paid and collected directly by the towing companies locatedin barangay Tinago.
He told reporters that the companies Road Warriors Towing and Motor Services and One Stop Towing Services collected sizable sums in traffic fines and storage fees before the city's traffic code was amended last Feb. 11, changing the arrangement.
The amendment to the traffic code stated that all towing fines would first go to the City Treasurer's Office.
?What happened to the amount collected by the private towing companies prior to the amendment?? Garganera asked in Cebuano.
He said it?s possible that ?multiple counts of malversation? were committed in less than a year.
?How much more for those instances before August 2008?? he asked.
Garganera also asked if a public bidding was held for the services of these companies.
Garganera said he would first wait for the COA opinion before considering filing malversation charges and violation of procurement law against Cebu City officials.
Garganera earlier challenged the administration of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to find investors to the South Road Properties (SRP), saying the reclamation site had cost the city billions of pesos in loan payments.
He even offered to resign in the event an investor decides to set shop in the SRP.
The Cebu city government and developer Filinvest recently signed a joint venture agreement to develop more than 50 hectares of prime lots in the property. /Correspondent Chris Ligan
