ILIGAN City ― "Saying goodbye to someone you love is dying a little." This is a quote that I remember after the contractor of this still-to-be-finished "world-class" Palao market was terminated. For I am sure that even with its termination, there are still people who are "in love" with this contractor BM Marketing what with the over 310,000 population of this city. The address of BM Marketing is Tacloban City.
So, there must be people still dying a little. And shedding tears too. for a contract that had gone awry. Per the analysis of the current admin under Mayor Frederick Siao.
But mostly, there are no tears shed, I suppose. Because from the start, this contractor that comes from outside this city was viewed with distrust and suspicion.
This P590 million project had its groundbreaking Feb. 2020... And scheduled to be finished on December 31 2021 yet.
It's now the middle of 2023. And after 7 extensions, it remained unfinished. Began in the past admin of then-mayor Celso G. Regencia, it could have been finished then. But wasn't.
Comes now another administration, that of Siao. After all was said and done the present admin had to terminate it.; Because among others. BM "did not comply with many provisions." It too "is not concerned with the safety of the end users, the vendors. " The wirings, for instance, were placed under the area where the vendors used the stalls for doing some washing jobs, using water, and of course, water is a great conductor of electricity. Hence, this danger of being electrocuted. That is "problematic" say the vendors when they went there to have a look at them.
Or leaks were seen when leak tests were applied. Railings too were made of iron, instead of metals.
Or the Fuji brand of the elevator was not used, instead, it was Fiji. A case of "wrong spelling wrong," as some jokes go.
The contractor, "refused to correct," said Siao in his "Notice of Termination" to the contractor.
The slippage, it was observed is more than 35 percent, and the allowable according to laws on the matter is only 10 percent.
It was then learned that the second or third highest bidder on a such construction project was "disqualified" too. So, it's a "repeat again:" bidding process. And before that, a "back job" assessment.
City administrator Dr. Darwin Manubag said that there have been "whispers" of "another contractor" really doing the job. But can't be confirmed.
So, maybe there are still a few people who are shedding tears for this contract that had gone awry? But as it is, most people here are shedding no tears for this contractor. Even somebody from Cebu City, Mr. Rico Chua said of this contractor voiced his concern. By saying that even if the contractor comes from somewhere outside the city provided the safety of the people is assured, that doesn't really matter. Or words to that effect.
Also, another person from Cebu wrote a letter to this writer voicing a similar concern.
Maybe, these two are among the people who are shedding no tears for BM Marketing!
