FOUR MONTHS after a bidding was held for the Bicol
International Airport construction in Daraga, Albay, the Department of
Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has yet to award the contract for the
project.
Albay Gov Joey Salceda said the airport project was three
years behind and the province could not afford to wait any longer for the
DOTC’s green light.
“Our airports, roads
and ports are bursting at the seams because our tourist arrivals have grown by
24 percent the last four years,” said Salceda in a text message.
The DOTC bids and awards committee opened the bids submitted
by two parties on Oct 22 last year. The lower bid was for P718 million, or 20%
under the DOTC’s floor price.
Bicolano Sen Gregorio Honasan, in a phone interview, said
delays in the airport and other infrastructure projects was one of the reasons
“most people had not felt the 6.6% growth touted by the government.”
“This is just
headline news. The government should not stop at crowing about rosy figures but
make sure the positive economic figures trickle down to the majority of the
people. It’s time we investigated the real cause of the delays in projects that
had been given allocations by Congress years ago,” said Honasan.
Seven other Bicolano lawmakers led by Albay Rep Al Francis
Bichara, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, and CamSur
Rep Salvio B Fortuno, chairman of the committee on Bicol recovery and
economic development, wrote Transportation Secretary Joseph E A Abaya
expressing their concern over the holdup in awarding the contract for airside
facilities (which are apart from the terminal facilities that would be bid out
separately) and its impact on the P900-million project fund that was allocated
two years ago.
“We ask the honorable
secretary to intervene and ensure the immediate implementation of the project
and to take advantage of the coming summer season which will make it conducive
for construction work in the area,” said Bichara and Fortuno in their letter.
In a text message, Abaya said: “We are still in the procurement
process. One bidder brought us to court. No one is scuttling the bid. Neither
is there a favored contractor at the DOTC.” - Inquirer
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