ZAMBOANGA CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has banned a number of contractors from dealing with the agency.
Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson made this announcement after he inspected on Tuesday the ongoing housing projects under the Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction (Z3R), which are intended for families displaced by the Zamboanga siege.
Covered by the DPWH ban are the contractors undertaking Z3R projects who are beyond the 15-percent allowable slippage.
Singson declined to publicly identify the erring contractors.
“We will not allow them to join our biddings [in the DPWH], they are identified,” he added.
He said that disallowing them to join future biddings will have a bigger impact when asked if charges will be filed against the erring contractors.
The National Housing Authority (NHA) reported that 30.37 percent, or 1,974 out of the 6,500 housing units, have been completed with only 869 legally turned over to the beneficiaries as of November 21 this year.
The NHA said the total accomplishment has reached 39.03 percent, adding that the houses were done through the home materials-assistance program.
Among the reasons cited by some of the construction companies handling numerous contracts, which are way behind schedule in implementation, are the lack of materials, lack of manpower and slow release of government permits.
Originally, the timeline for the completion of the Z3R projects was June 2015.
However, deadline for the Z3R project was extended to March 2016, owing the challenges
besetting the implementation of the housing projects.
Singson met with the line agencies supervising the implementation of the housing projects before he inspected the Z3R projects.
Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar accompanied Singson during the inspection of the projects.
Singson inspected the projects after the Local Interagency Committee, chaired by Salazar, asked the national government through a resolution to rescind contracts, as well as to impose liquidated damages on construction companies with long overdue Z3R projects.