Olongapo SubicBay BatangGapo Newscenter

Saturday, February 17, 2007

BCDA tells SCTEx contractors to buy new equipment

THE BASES Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) has called on the contractors of the P21-billion Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) to invest in modern equipment and additional resources to complete the project on schedule.

In a statement, Robert Gervacio, BCDA vice president and spokesperson, said that as of Feb. 7, work on the project had been delayed by 8.31 percent for Package 1 (Subic to Clark segment) and Package 2 (Clark to Tarlac segment) of the SCTEx.

The Kajima-Obayashi-JFE Engineering-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (KOJM) consortium is working on Package 1, while the Hazama-Taisei-Nippon Steel (HTN) joint venture is building Package 2.

The SCTEx is one of the government’s key projects in the Arroyo administration’s Luzon Urban Beltway super region.

The BCDA also warned the contractors that their contracts could be rescinded if the project incurs a negative slippage of 15 percent or more.

In the same statement, BCDA president Narciso Abaya said the agency was hopeful to complete the 93.7-km SCTEx by yearend despite the delay.

“There is still time to speed up the pace of project construction work,” he said.

Abaya, according to the statement, raised the problem on equipment lack and other operational concerns to Tokyo-based Kajima president Mitsuyo Nakamura through a letter sent in February last year.

The BCDA said similar letters were also sent to HTN officials, advising them to adhere to the provisions of their contract and implement catch-up plans so work on the SCTEx could be finished according to target dates.

Inspite of these, the Japanese contractors reportedly failed to upgrade their equipment, representing noncompliance with a contract provision mandating that 50 percent of the equipment to be used in the project should be new.

BCDA field engineers said most of the machines, owned by local sub-contractors, were old and inefficient, and often stalled.

Earlier, an engineer involved in the project told the Inquirer that the SCTEx might not be completed by November as construction firms failed to get complete control of right-of-way (ROW) sites due to protests arising from unresolved expropriation cases and unpaid land claims.

But BCDA officials shrugged off allegations that ROW issues were delaying work on the SCTEx. “These are minor problems that cannot derail the project,” they said. Inquirer Central Luzon

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