THE Commission on Audit (COA) has lifted the disallowance issued against the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Agusan del Norte District Engineering Office (DEO) in connection with a road project that was found to have major defects after completion in 2014.
The COA en banc approved the grant of the appeal of the DPWH Agusan del Norte DEO officials led by Engineer Julius Caesar Badar based on corrective work undertaken by the contractor, Rostel Construction and Supply.
Records showed that a Notice of Disallowance was issued against the payment of P1.25 million to the contractor after inspectors found “defects of major scaling on 48 blocks of concrete” relative to the road upgrading of the Buenavista-Bunaguit Road, Tapnigue-Upper Olave Section in Buenavista-Agusan del Norte.
According to the report of the COA Regional Technical and Information Technology Services (RTITS), its inspection documented the major scaling, even if the project was certified to be 100 percent complete.
The regional office recommended that the contractor be required to make corrective work on the sections flagged by inspectors or the P1.25 million billing will be considered a deficiency.
On re-inspection by the COA RTITS on April 5, 2017, it reported that “correction was indeed undertaken to the subject concrete pavement with a total of 50 blocks …done by applying premium brand concrete epoxy.”
The inspection team certified that the road condition was stable and already usable to the public.
“Performance is one of the modes of extinguishing an obligation. In view of the foregoing, the obligation under the ND is deemed extinguished and the lifting by the RD of the ND was proper,” the Commission said.
