This according to Governor Gwendolyn Garcia who said she got a report from Engr. Apollo Enriquez, the Capitol consultant for infrastructure and development and foundation specialist that the substructure was already completed last April 28 ahead of its targeted completion date on May 23.
In the absence of a negative slippage, the Project Monitoring Office of the said project led by Engr. Apollo Enriquez will be recommending to the Bids and Awards Committee for infrastructure projects that the contract for the construction of the superstructure will also be awarded to the same contractor, the WT Construction. The contract may be awarded this week.
In the meantime, the contractor is doing the site development and fencing, which should have started sometime in July or August, while waiting for the awarding of the contract for the superstructure. The PMO is in the process of evaluating the cost of the superstructure before bidding and/or subsequent awarding of the contract can be done.
In a phone call to Enriquez yesterday afternoon during the news conference, Garcia told him to reduce to lowest terms for each work covered in the said particular project.
In relation to this, Garcia said the foiled attempt to bomb a mall in the North Reclamation Area last week only goes to show how ready Cebu is in terms of securing the place for a major international event, such as the ASEAN summit.
"Had we been slipshod and laidback and totally inept, wala unta to ma-foiled ang maong attempt. So that should in fact show that our law enforcement agencies and units are doing their jobs and they're doing it well," she said.
On talks that the slay of the two alleged members of the Rajah Soliman group who were found to have had planted a bomb near one entrance at the mall was scripted to create the impression that Cebu is not safe and capable of hosting the ASEAN Summit, Garcia said that would have to be proven first. "Unless otherwise proven, ato na lang sa na dawaton ang nahitabo, that it really was there and pre-empted ang maong attempt," she pointed out.
She further said that the fact that Cebu is the choice for other national and international events, such as the recently concluded anti-terrorism summit and the upcoming 27th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization general assembly this December, only shows the vote of confidence given to us.
"And I would appreciate if we stop praising this imagined monster of threats. You know, anywhere in the world there will always be the terrorism threat. What is important is that we're ready and we're capable of securing our own island of Cebu," she added.
As to negative reports coming out that the reported holding of some meetings in the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and Spa renders the CICC useless, Garcia said it is immaterial because what is important is that it is going to be held here in Cebu.
"And we do not really need to quibble about all these sometimes unnecessary discussions. We need not quibble on the details. Cebu na bitaw ni," she said. - Cristina C. Birondo