Jap contractors ask for 5 ½ months extension to finish airport project
NIADP Asst. Project Engineer Vic Andres
(extreme right) shows to Gov. Niel Tupas,
Sr. the airport construction project map
during Thursday's ocular inspection.
Also in photo, from left, Johnny Dignadice
of Iloilo Provincial Capitol Press Corp,
Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada
and a representative of the contractor
Taisei-Shimizu Joint Venture.
ILOILO-Taisei-Shimizu Joint Venture (TSJV), contractor of the New Iloilo Airport Development Project in Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan area, assured that it can carry on with the multi-million project claiming that the 24.80% slippage it has incurred was merely due to the rainy season.
In fact, it has already submitted a revised construction program extending the project completion date by 5 months and a half or March 2007 instead of the original October 2006.
Gov. Niel Tupas, Sr. together with Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) officials Assistant Secretary Ricardo Tan, Project Engineer Raffy Lavides and Assistant Project Engineer Vic Andres conducted an ocular inspection on the project site Thursday.
In its report to the inspection group, the contractor explained that the slippage or delay of six months and a half was mainly caused by the slow progress of the critical works activity (embankment works) due to the rainy season.
Ongoing works on the Control Tower and
Operation Building.
It added, the delays in civil, building, utility and air navigation works was also compounded by the effect of last year's rainy days to the scheduled project activities which have not been recovered.
Now on its eighteenth month, the project construction is delayed by 24.80% divided into the following aspects: general requirements - .05%, civil works - 5.10%, utility works - 2.26%, building works 15.47% and navigation aids - 1.92%.
As this developed, the contractor reported that it has already implemented Catch-up Programme 2 which lowered the slippage to 18.23%.
Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada, who joined the ocular inspection, said the project construction is now in full swing. He said the slippage is not as critical as what is being pictured out by fifth district Rep. Rolex Suplico.
To note, Suplico has called for the scrapping of the contract with TSJV due to the what he calls significant delay in the construction works of the multi-billion airport project.
Suplico then declared that the project incurred a 55% slippage.
Suplico claimed the work slippage resulted to a loss of P1.9 billion in government funds.
The airport project is a subject of current congressional investigation due to claims of corruption, anomalies and irregularities earlier hurled by Board Member Emmanuel Gallar.