NIA to bid anew Palawan irrigation project after blacklisting winner

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) will put its P454-million irrigation project in Aborlan, Palawan, on the auction block this month after it terminated the project’s contractor for failing to finish the construction on time.

In a statement, the NIA said that administrator Ricardo Visaya decided last year to suspend the construction of the Ibato-Iraan Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (SRIP) and blacklisted its contractor, Oscar R. Sarmiento Construction Inc. (ORSCI), due to project delays and negative slippages.

Being blacklisted means the company cannot participate in any government contracts for a year.

The construction firm was given a notice to proceed on April 2, 2014. Based on the contract, the project was expected to be finished in three years. Six years since, the project has been barely built.

In a phone interview, NIA spokesperson Pilipina Bermudez said that ORSCI had requested for several extensions and suspensions which the agency had granted based on valid reasons. Further evaluations showed, however, the company did not have the capacity to continue the operations anymore, she said.

Problems that arose during the project were the lack of sources of aggregates and right of way.

Inquirer tried, but failed to reach officials of ORSCI.

Of the P454-million contract, the NIA would rebid around P326 million, meaning that only around 30 percent of the money has been utilized.

In a radio interview on Monday, Visaya said that the irrigation project would stick to the remaining budget, adding that “on my watch, I will assure that erring contractors will be penalized and will pay the damages they owe to the government.”

For this year, the NIA has already terminated 10 projects and blacklisted 12 contractors.

The SRIP is an earth-fill dam with a reservoir storage capacity of 2.388 MCM, which could irrigate about 860 hectares of farm lands. The source of water would come from the rivers of Ibato and Iraan, and would benefit around 425 beneficiaries in the barangays of Sagpangan, Ibato, Iraan and Maligaya.

Upon completion, the dam would be considered as the biggest irrigation project in Palawan.