Traffic board to deny permits to contractor of P115M project

A PRIVATE construction firm is now in hot water after the Cebu City Traffic Management Coordination (TMC) Board issued a resolution to deny the issuance of permits to the former for its failure to complete the P115 million pipe-laying project in Nivel Road in Barangay Busay, Cebu City.

TMC Board chairman Rey Francis “Koko” Holganza approved the resolution Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, that directs the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) not to grant any permits for road closure to the private contractor for any of its projects after it failed to secure CCTO permits since it started its pipe-laying project.

The pipe-laying project was commissioned by the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) for its water pipes.

MCWD general manager Edgar Donoso, while then acting general manager late last year, said in previous interviews that the project started in November 2021 and should have been completed in August 2022.

The completion date of the project was then moved to Dec. 4, 2022.

‘Abandoned’

But after observing that the construction work was “either temporarily abandoned or was being undertaken only by a handful,” the TMC Board invited the private firm to a meeting wherein the project engineers guaranteed that they would finish all works in November 2022.

Holganza said that until now, JFAP Construction has failed to fully restore the excavated road and submit the necessary documents to the TMC Board for the issuance of a permit.

Engineers from the MCWD also informed the TMC Board that the contractor had already incurred a negative slippage for the delay in the project, added Holganza.

The board also said in its resolution that the project has failed to comply with the basic requirements under City Ordinances (CO) 1618 and 2218.

CO 1618 regulates street diggings and provides penalties for violations thereof, while CO 2218 amended the Cebu City Traffic Code that requires warning signs for the protection of workingmen on the highway.

“Such wanton disregard by these project contractors of the basic legal requirements under the said City Ordinances does not only cause a traffic hazard but also impedes the smoother flow of traffic in our streets,” read a portion of the resolution.

Holganza said any entity that wants to close any part of a public road should secure a permit not only from the City’s Department of Engineering and Public Works but also from the CCTO since this will affect the flow of traffic.

Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the committee on infrastructure, told SunStar Cebu Tuesday that the pipe-laying works are already finished and the contractor is now restoring the excavated portion.

According to Guardo, he will call the attention of the private contractor and ask it to further expedite its civil works.

SunStar Cebu reached out to the representatives of JFAP Construction, but as of press time, no response was received.