‘Check infra projects more often’

AFTER several school and barangay buildings in Cebu City were exposed as substandard, Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias, head of the City Council’s infrastracture committee, proposed more inspections especially of infrastructure projects in mountain barangays.

He said the city should hire competent engineers who will inspect the projects honestly.

“Let us not give contractors reason to think we don’t conduct inspections,” he told Cebu Daily News.

Cabarrubias said MSDLR, the contractor of the school and barangay hall in barangay Toong, still has a 10 percent retention fee with the city through which the city would demand that they fix the defective buildings.

But according to city treasurer Ofelia Oliva, the 10 percent might be too small for the contractor to come back.

Cabarrubias said the city cannot increase the rentention fee since it was fixed under the procurement law.

If the contractor will not fix the irregularities, they will face a ban on all city projects, he said.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, who chairs the education committee listed eight schools that have defects.

These are in barangays Buhisan, Busay, Pamutan, Sibugay, Sirao, Sinsin, Toong, and the elementary and high school buildings of Don Vicente Rama Memorial High School(DVRMHS) in barangay Basak.

DVRMHS, according to the inspectors, also undergo “significant vibrations”. The rest of the schools have cracks on walls.

Three out of these schools are funded by the city through special education fund.