DPWH on bridge program issues

This refers to the comments of Mr. Jarius Bondoc in his column, “Gotcha” (The Philippine STAR, Sept. 17, 2012), titled “Shoddy bridge supplier gets new gov’t contract,” referring to the Balfour-Cleveland Consortium, which was the supplier of the bridge construction and replacement project of this department in the past.

Based on records at hand in the department, may we clarify the following issues raised in the said column:

Balfour-Cleveland Consortium which implemented the UK-assisted DPWH Bridge Replacement Project (2001-2007), did not incur cost overruns in their supply and services contract. However, the cost of the project itself increased from P3.04 billion to P5.19 billion primarily due to the increase in civil works. The civil works cost of the said bridge project increased due to the following reasons:

• Additional scope of works, such as construction of approaches, slope protection works, and other appurtenant structures that were not considered in the original cost submitted to NEDA;

• Changes in bridge list and additional 34 new bridge sites which required detailed studies based on actual validation to fully utilize the supplied steel materials;

• Road right of way acquisition problems;

• Unforeseen increases in prices of construction materials, fuel, labor, right-of-way costs, etc. from the time of NEDA-ICC approval up to project implementation; and

• Phase-by-phase implementation of civil works based on limited availability of government funds released in view of the financial conditions being experienced by the government from 2002-2004.

Although the bridge materials were funded by foreign funding from UK, the civil works component was funded by the Philippine government and procured through Local Competitive Bidding (LCB) pursuant to local laws, rules and regulations.

May we also inform that the recent NEDA-approved proposal of Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd. (CBUKL) was endorsed by this Department after passing the DPWH Evaluation Criteria of Project Proposals for Foreign-Assisted Project.

Likewise, the proposal has passed the rigorous review and evaluation of the NEDA, starting from the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC)-Technical Board to the ICC-Cabinet Committee before the NEDA board approval.

Presently, the supplier’s contract is being reviewed by a technical working group composed of officials and head of concerned offices of the department, together with an independent consultant, who is an expert in turnkey scheme of implementation, working jointly to ensure that the contract will be in accordance with the relevant provisions of the applicable laws, rules and regulations. This department will not be remiss on its actual mandate of providing quality infrastructure, facilities and services.

On the issue of whether Balfour-Cleveland and CBUKL are one and the same company, records showed that they are not the same company and that Balfour is not a party to the proposed new bridge project. The recent NEDA approved proposal is a sole undertaking of CBUKL.

We hope that this information clarifies this matter. — ROGELIO L. SINGSON, Secretary, Department of Public Works and Highways