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| GUIJALO PORT IN SHAMBLES - Although typhoon Milenyo did not directly hit Caramoan, the P72 million Guijalo Port which is the main entry point to the town was severely damaged raising the possibility that it is another substandard project. Also in Caramoan, the Hanopol Dam Irrigation System for which the government already has spent more than P130 million and which was supposed to be completed in 1998 still cannot be used because the irrigation canals have not been completed. Yet, the original cost estimate of the project when started in 1994 was only P87 million. |
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Guijalo port which was built by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) only in 2002 may have been constructed without strictly following government specifications as it partially crumbled during typhoon Milenyo although the typhoon did not directly hit Caramoan and there was hardly any damage to agriculture and other infrastructures in the municipality.
This was the observation of knowledgeable residents in the town who felt that government engineers had not adequately supervised the construction or were in collusion with the contractor.
Funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Guijalo Port was built at the cost of P72 million, way up the original government estimate of P53.6 million. Contractor was Golden City Engineering Construction but government engineers supposed to closely supervise the project were rarely seen at the site during the construction period.
Three other ports were simultaneously built in Camarines Sur under JICA funding—Pasacao Port, Tamban Port in Tinambac and Sabang Port in San Jose which is actually in Sitio Talisay, barangay Dolo. But even if typhoon Milenyo hit the three other areas harder than in Caramoan not one of the three other ports sustained damage from the calamity.
If Guijalo Port is not immediately repaired one more typhoon could lead to total devastation of the multi-million project for which the Philippine government is just beginning to pay back the loan with the Japanese financing institution.
Informed of the situation, Manolo Alvarez, a Caramoan who is senior executive assistant in the office of the Assistant General Manager of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said the agency could not undertake the repair of the Guijalo Port because the facility is not under its management. DOTC turned over Guijalo Port to the Caramoan Municipal Government on December 9, 2002.
Informed sources also said that the contractor could no longer be held liable for the damage because the one-year guarantee period had lapsed.
Meanwhile, the municipal government has been urged to seek assistance from the National Disaster Coordinating Center (NDCC) or directly undertake the repair from its calamity funds if there is any existing balance. But repair work has to immediately done before another typhoon sets in.
