CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A legislator in this city has said that the lack of engineers in the local government may have been one of the factors behind over 100 delayed infrastructure projects here.
The city council committees on public works, finance, and appropriations conducted a joint hearing on Wednesday, July 27, to discuss the Commission on Audit’s 2022 report about the 126 delayed infrastructure projects in this city.
"It is possible. Why? Maybe the problems of the contractors, such as the road right of way, couldn't be immediately addressed because of so many problems faced by the different resident engineers," Councilor John Michael Seno told the Manila Bulletin in the vernacular after the hearing.
Seno, chairman of the committee on public works, found out that the local government has only two project engineers and 12 resident engineers who have been supervising these projects.
COUNCILOR John Michael Seno, chairman of the city council committee on public works, answers questions from the media after the joint hearing conducted by his committee and the committee on finance and appropriations on Wednesday, July 26, at the City Council Session Hall, to discuss the Commission on Audit’s 2022 report about the 126 delayed infrastructure projects in Cagayan de Oro City. (Franck Dick Rosete)
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The public works committee is planning to determine the exact number of projects that a resident engineer should be monitoring. There is a plan to hire more engineers but there are no further details as the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) is still conducting assessment.
Of the 126 delayed projects, 37 have been audited by the Commission on Audit (COA). Of the 37 projects, 18 had been completed. Among the delayed projects are drainage systems, road projects, school buildings, and hospital.
Some projects started in 2018 and 2019 but majority of them began in 2021 and 2022.
How to complete these projects were not disclosed. But Seno said the remaining delayed projects are still ongoing.
During the hearing, the COA representative said three of the 37 delayed projects have already received mobilization funds.
However, Seno said, the CEO admitted it had submitted an incorrect report to COA and clarified that some projects have yet to receive mobilization funds.
The CEO and City Accounting Office were asked by the committees to submit their latest report which will be the basis for determining the projects from the remaining 90 unaudited delayed projects that will be prioritized for the upcoming inspection.
The two city hall offices, Seno said, have committed to submitting their reports on Monday, as the committees on public works, finance, and appropriations are only given three weeks before their scheduled report on the plenary.
Aside from ensuring a sufficient number of engineers, Seno also stressed the importance of ensuring the "detailed engineering" of an infrastructure project first prior to its bidding to avoid future problems.
Detailed engineering creates a full definition of every aspect of a project's development. It includes all the studies to be performed before the project's construction starts.
Seno want to develop the work routine of the City Project Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (CPMEC) since they only evaluate a project on the final billing. Seno also wanted to propose that the CPMEC members be engineers by profession to know the various technicalities.
The COA report was first brought forward through the special report of Councilor Edgar Cabanlas on July 17 before it was referred for discussion.
Seno said they will forward their report to the City Mayor’s Office if they find some lapses. The CMO can conduct further investigations and the Civil Service Commission would be the agency that can file a case against officials or employees who failed to properly perform their job.