Capitol parking project suffers another delay

CEBU, Philippines — The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of Cebu provincial government has again declared failure of bidding on the construction of a four-story parking building at the Capitol compound, sparking another round of delay for the project.

Jone Zeigfred Sepe, BAC vice chairman, said Tuanzon Construction failed the post-qualification process due to negative slippage noted in some of its projects. Negative slippage means the construction firm failed to meet the agreed deadline.

The government only allows up to 15 percent of negative slippage for contractors participating in the bidding process.

“Unya katong timing nga pag-evaluate nato sa contractor, more than 15 percent so diri sa atong technical working group, ni-decide nga mo-recommend nga dili na lang ipadayon to (During evaluation, it was found out that the contractor had more than 15 percent negative slippage so we recommended not to proceed with the bidding process),” Sepe said.

It was the second time BAC declared failure of bidding on the project.

Based in Talisay City, Tuanzon Construction posted a single calculated and responsive bid of P83.9 million or P500,000 lower than the approved budget for the contract (ABC) of P84.4 million.

Because it has been disqualified, BAC will be forced to conduct a negotiated procurement for the planned construction.

Based on the procurement law, BAC will enter a negotiated procurement when a failure of bidding is declared twice for a project. In this case, the committee will invite “potential contractors” to join the process and ask them to submit their financial proposals.

“Kini sa adlaw nga pag-negotiate, ang ila rang dad-on ang ilang financial ug PhilGeps ra. Katong tanan mga techinal ug legal documentary requirements, to follow lang to after kinsa ang pinaka-lowest nga ni-submit anang adlawa,” Sepe said. (On the day of negotiation, all they have to do is bring their proposal and their PhilGeps certification. The other technical and legal requirements of the winning proponent may just follow.)

This process, according to Sepe, is faster than the regular public bidding but considering the time to process the bidding and the date set for the start of the campaign period, he expects the project to be delayed further.

This as local government units are temporarily banned from giving notices to award to winning bidders of projects as campaign period starts.

The BAC is now waiting for the engineering office’s program of works for the project. It is targeting to publish it for the negotiated procurement by next week.

The construction of the multi-level car park structure at the Capitol compound aims to accommodate vehicles of the provincial government’s employees, as well as the transacting public.

The Capitol set aside P84.4 million for the construction of the building, which seeks to accommodate 96 to 100 vehicles and set to rise beside the disaster office. — KBQ (FREEMAN)