Airport terminal builder owes supplier P23 million
While the new Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport is set for inauguration today, its contractor has yet to pay its supplier at least P23 million in dues.
Cebu businessman Walter Lao, owner of Global Construction Support and Services Corporation, claimed that Megawide Construction Corporation has not yet settled its collectibles covering March 2016 to April 2017.
These include billings for transport truck rentals amounting to P150,000; three water pump rentals at P480,000, P146,000, and P7.4 million; utility treatment building (UTB), P762,375; three excavation and backfilling works at P1.158 million, P326,863.39, and P1.377 million; and unpaid retention of P8.6 million.
Collectibles totaled P20.5 million, including P8.6 million in unpaid retention fee.
Since a year has lapsed, Lao said they are charging 12 percent per year or a total of P2.5 million in surcharges, for a total of P23 million in collectibles for the MCIA Terminal 2 project alone.
Lao said Megawide has also engaged the services of Lao’s company in two other projects in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City.
Lao claimed that a total of P4.5 million is collectible from Megawide for the Phil-Am Life Center Cebu project while another P6.3 million is collectible for the Sewerage Treatment Plant at Mactan Newtown, LapuLapu City.
This means that for the three projects, Megawide owes Lao’s firm a total of P33.9 million, including the surcharges.
Jason Torres, Megawide assistant vice president for corporate affairs, told The FREEMAN that they will address the matter as soon as possible as these pertain to multiple projects handled by different project teams.
However, Lao said he has been given a lot of assurances but to no avail.
Megawide is one of the country’s most progressive infrastructure conglomerates with a decisive portfolio in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC), airport infrastructure, progressive property development, and renewable energy.
In its website, it says that its revolutionary construction and engineering solutions continue to shape the industry by integrating its comprehensive EPC capabilities with innovative construction support technologies such as precast, formwork systems, and concrete batching.
Megawide is a strong partner of the Philippine government through the public-private partnership (PPP) program, with projects such as the MCIA, the Southwest Integrated Transport System, and the PPP for School Infrastructure Project Phases 1 and 2.
M. Rubio/KBQ