By Nash B. Maulana
The Bangsamoro Ministry of Public Works (MPW) has urged its government contractors to be vigilant against red-tape, and to report any attempts to exact kickbacks disguised as “cuts” from payments of infrastructure projects that they undertake.
Avila Abobakar, head of the Maguindanao del Norte MPW District Engineering Office (DEO), exhorted the contractors to finish their infrastructure projects on time.
Maguindanao del Norte is part of the now six-province, three-city Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), although the province has a separate Provincial Engineering Office that handles local projects.
BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim has designated engineer Danny Ong as officer-in-charge vice Minister Eduard Guerra who is reportedly recovering from an injury sustained after falling off the stairs in his house.
During a contract-signing ceremony on Tuesday, Abobakar said the marching order from Ebrahim was for the agency to be on the lookout for the so-called “percentage cuts” on costs of infrastructure projects.
He said any “demand for two percent or whatever percent” should be reported to him and other top MPW officials.
He also said alibis like rains were not likely to convince his office to consider delay in infrastructure project implementation. Contractors usually cite force-majeure in unfair weather to ask for extension of project implementation with specific time frame for completion as stipulated in the contract.
Auditor Mona Balabaran presented an infrastructure menu of projects that line agencies of BARMM, particularly MPW, can implement for members of the Bangsamoro Parliament.
Balabaran directed contractors to at least finish 20 percent of the entire projects that they are implementing before they bill out the MPW DEO for partial accomplishment, since every project is paid 15 percent in advance for mobilization purposes.
She said the contractors should promptly report where there were foreseeable problems that could cause a “negative slippage” or probable reasons for delay in project implementation.
