SPEED UP, DOTR TOLD

Delay in the procurement of the Technical Support Consultant (TSC) “started the chain reaction of delays” in the project Project should proceed at “full speed” after the Neda-ICC ordered the DOTr to hire a TSC: Cebu City administrator

Before he recommended cancelling, DOTr chief Tugade was told by state auditors to prepare a catch-up plan for the Cebu BRT Failure to hire Technical Support Consultants started ‘chain reaction of (BRT) delays,’ COA told the transportation department

A month before Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade recommended the cancellation of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, state auditors asked him and the project managers to prepare a catch-up work plan and explain the negative slippages.

As of December 2017, implementation of the P16.3-billion Cebu BRT project had been delayed by more than one year and two months due to the slow procurement process for consulting services and civil works, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.

Under the revised timetable approved by the World Bank, the mass transit system is targeted to be operational by January 2020, more than three years behind the original target of October 2016. Procurement of civil works for the first two packages is supposed to be completed between January and May 2018.

In an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) dated March 12, 2018, state auditors said the delay in the procurement of the Technical Support Consultant (TSC) services was the “start of the chain reaction of delays” in the project.

There was further delay when procurement was transferred to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) on March 23, 2017.

These delays resulted in low availment of loan proceeds and the accumulation of commitment fees to P14.48 million in 2015-2017, the memorandum stated. A commitment fee is a fee levied on the undisbursed portion of the loan.

The transfer to PS-DBM of the procurement of TSC services also resulted in an “unnecessary administrative cost” of P2.952 million.

Cebu City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete yesterday said the order issued on April 25 by the National Economic and Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee (Neda-ICC) to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to hire a TSC should allow the project to proceed at “full speed.”

Approved contract

The TSC, according to state auditors, plays a critical role in finalizing the detailed engineering design (DED) and in advising the DOTr on key technical matters. COA reported a negative slippage of 14.78 percent for the DED, with an accomplishment of only 60.82 percent as of December 2017.

Villarete said the contract for the TSC has been approved for award under PS-DBM BAC Resolution BAC4-2017-12-01 signed in 2017.

“He (Tugade) only needs to sign the Notice of Award, which has been pending at his office since late last year. Unless he chooses to defy the Neda-ICC,” Villarete said.

The March 12, 2018 AOM, signed by audit team leader Ludivina Daulat and supervising auditor Avenilda Torres, was the second memorandum issued by COA on the delays in the Cebu BRT Project since end-2016.

In an AOM dated March 29, 2017, state auditors noted that

He (Tugade) only needs to sign the Notice of Award, which has been pending at his office since late last year. Unless he chooses to defy the

Neda-ICC. NIGEL PAUL VILLARETE

the Request for Expression of Interest for the TSC contract was advertised on the World Bank website on Dec. 12, 2014.

Five firms were shortlisted, but only one firm was qualified technically. The proposal of Egis International (France) was approved by the WB on May 4, 2016.

The DOTr, however, rejected Egis because its bid of P323.55 million was 72 percent higher than the agency estimate of P188 million.

WB recommended that DOTr negotiate with Egis, saying the rejection of the proposal was “not adequately justified” under the Bank’s guidelines.

The DOTr, however, insisted that heeding the WB recommendation would be in violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act, or Republic Act 9184.

COA had warned that the conflict, if not resolved immediately, would cause further delays in the implementation of the project.

It cited Section 4.2 of the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9184, which states that the terms of an international agreement, such as the loan agreement with World Bank, prevail over the procurement law’s implementing rules.