GenSan terminates services of 9 contractors over ‘slippage’

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The city government has terminated the services of at least nine construction companies due to project slippages and related problems.

City Administrator Arnel Zapatos said Monday the move stems from “significant delays” in the implementation of major infrastructure projects, among them the installation of traffic lights and road expansions.

Zapatos said the companies involved, all registered contractors in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System or

PhilGEPS, had abandoned their contracted projects for various reasons.

Zapatos said Mayor Ronnel Rivera approved the termination of the contracts to facilitate the re-bidding of the affected projects.

“We have submitted the records of the erring contrac

tors to the City Legal Office to process the official termination,” he told reporters.

The official said the nine firms were among the contractors that were earlier flagged by the city council due to unexplained delays in the implementation at least 27 projects. One of them was from the area while the eight others were from the other regions based on their PhilGEPS registration.

In one of the projects, the contractor reportedly abandoned the construction works after being cited by the local government for failing to comply with its specifications.

Zapatos said the other contractors have settled their penalties and submitted catch-up plans for the pending projects, including the road upgrading and expansions in Barangays City Heights and Mabuhay.

“Most of the affected projects have already resumed and have new schedules for completion,” he said.

Zapatos assured that the city government, through the City Engineering Office, has been closely monitoring the implementation of all pending projects to prevent further delays.