COA flags delays in Yolanda housing project

The Commission on Audit has said beneficiaries of the Yolanda housing project have yet to fully relocate to their government-funded homes after the contractor in 10 project sites worth P852.727 million failed to meet its target completion date due to lack of resources.

In its 2017 audit on the National Housing Authority, the COA said the contractor of the Yolanda Permanent Housing Program (YPHP) had limited manpower and equipment to fully accomplish its obligations. It did not identify the contractor in the audit report, but warned that its contract may be terminated.

"Thus, the developer incurred negative slippages (delays) ranging from 15 to 91 percent which shall be the grounds for termination of the contract," the COA said.

The NHA's terms of reference under the YPHP states a contractor must have sufficient experience and major construction equipment before it can participate in the bidding.

Nonetheless, the COA cited Annex A of the Government Procurement Policy Board Resolution No. 018-2004 which said a contract can be terminated if an ongoing project is delayed by 15 percent from its target.

"The said lists of manpower and equipment were not sufficient to undertake the ten projects awarded to only one contractor for the construction of 2,559 housing units under the YPHP," the COA said.

Site Memo Reports (SMRs) issued by the NHA Region 8 in Tacloban City found slow progress, minimal activities, few manpower and equipment on site.

The NHA Region 8 urged the deployment of more manpower and equipment at project sites but no action was undertaken by the contractor, according to COA.

A daily report from the Site Engineer of the contractor also informed the NHA that work at Hernani Town Ville Site 3 was delayed since two equipment supposedly deployed for the site was being used at Hernanu Town Ville Site 2.

However, the COA said NHA failed to impose liquidation damages against the contractor despite the delays in the completion of the project.

The commission recommended for the NHA to closely monitor the manpower and equipment deployed at YPHP project sites to ensure its timely completion for the benefit of Yolanda victims.

The NHA admitted that it failed to fully monitor the capacity of the contractor. It, nonetheless, said it will strengthen the manpower and equipment requirement in future procurement activities.

"The NHA has issued deadlines for the completion of all the existing Yolanda projects and placed a completion date of December 2020 of all remaining Yolanda projects," it said in response to COA.

The NHA added it will abide by government procurement rules in the implementation of all YPHP contracts "until the last house has been built."

Contract split

Meanwhile, the COA also flagged an unnamed contractor for splitting the P654.594-million housing project in Balangiga, Hernani and Quinapondan in Eastern Samar into eight contracts.

The COA said the three contracts were split to "accommodate" the contractor given its limited manpower and equipment, noting that the firm can only implement projects worth up to P100 million based on its Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board license.

COA figures showed the contractor would be overwhelmed by the big-ticket projects if the contract was not split.

It said the Balangiga project cost P133.294 million in total, while the Hernani project cost P286.6 million and the Quinapondan project is worth P234.7 million.

NHA management rebuked COA during its exit conference on June 19, 2018 on the project split, saying only one contractor submitted its proposal for the housing project.

The COA, however, said it found the projects covered by the eight contracts were located in the same project sites.

The commission further urged the NHA to file appropriate charges for violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act against the contractor and concerned agency officials responsible for the contract split. —KG, GMA News