SBMA ordered: Penalize contractors for delays in P1.25B infra projects

- Advertisement -

GOVERNMENT auditors have called on the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to enforce penalties against contractors over massive delays in seven infrastructure projects with an aggregate value of P1.25 billion.

Based on the records of the SBMA Project Management Office (PMO), work on six of the projects should have been finished in 2020 and 2021 but an inspection found them still incomplete as of March 29, 2022.

The P396.58 million construction of Magsaysay Bridge, the biggest of the seven projects, was given the notice to proceed (NTP) on September 26, 2019 and was supposed to be turned over by March 19, 2021.

- Advertisement -spot_img

Five extensions and 450 additional calendar days later, work accomplishment remains stalled at 30 percent although the revised date of completion has come and gone as of June 12, 2022.

Another big-ticket project, the P289.007 million naval supply depot road rehabilitation-phase 3 with a target date of September 30, 2020, is only at 65.69 percent despite no less than six extensions equivalent to 591 days. The revised completion date of May 14, 2022 has also lapsed.

Also in the list was the P198.95 million road rehabilitation project 2020 which was found bogged at 43.49 percent after missing its target date of June 7, 2021 and getting three extensions totaling 306 days. Its revised completion date was on April 9, 2022.

Its more recent counterpart, the P169.01 million road rehabilitation project 2021 was supposed to be completed last February 27, 2022 but was already granted one extension of 96 days. As of the first quarter of this year, inspection showed it was only at 45 percent.

The other incomplete projects in the list are the P73.73 million rehabilitation of slope at Aparri Road with a total of 615 days extension, the P69.703 million perimeter fence (Kalaklan-Kalayaan) with nine extension or 481 days; and the P52.9 million rehabilitation of perimeter road with six extension equivalent to 555 days.

SBMA management blamed pandemic restrictions, uncooperative weather, and unfavorable working conditions in the project site for the delays.

However, auditors said they were given access to documents on only two projects when they made a request to the PMO. The only documents forwarded to them pertained to the Magsaysay Bridge project and the road rehabilitation project 2020.

While both included periodic accomplishment reports, the audit team noted the absence of a catch-up plan from the contractor for the delay as well as the monitoring mechanism from the PMO.

The COA reminded the SBMA that the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) has already laid out guidelines on actions to be taken against defaulting contractors under Circular No. 03-2019 but these were not implemented.

Based on the GPPB Circular, calibrated penalties are to be imposed on five percent, 10 percent and 15 percent slippage based on the total number of days for completion of the project under the original contract.

A warning was to be issued for a slippage of five percent, a final warning at 10 percent, and termination of the contract shall be initiated once the slippage reaches 15 percent.

The audit team noted that the GPPB guidelines are backed by the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

In its response to the audit observation, the SBMA agreed to undertake the COA recommendation to “enforce promptly the GPPB Guidelines in addressing delays in the implementation of the infrastructure project by the contractor.”

Included in the GPPB rules is initiating transitory measures for the takeover of the project while re-bidding to another contractor is ongoing.

Author

Share post: