Raps readied over unfinished Davao Sur project

THE FACADE of the controversial Davao del Sur Sports Complex that shows it to be complete is misleading, according to provincial government authorities who inspected the project and found it to be just 95-percent complete. ORLANDO DINOY/INQUIRER MINDANAO

DAVAO CITY—Charges against a construction company partly owned by controversial businessman Cedric Lee and several former and incumbent provincial officials are being prepared over the unfinished Davao del Sur Sports Complex, Gov. Claude Bautista said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, Bautista said an investigation that he had ordered into the project indicated irregularities.

Bautista declined to elaborate what the investigation’s findings were, saying the full details would be revealed when the case is finally filed.

But he said “some officials were involved, including former Gov. Douglas Cagas on account of command responsibility.”

Cagas could not be reached for comment.

Based on data provided by the provincial government, the firm Izumo Contractors Inc. was awarded the P500-million project and construction commenced on June 16, 2009.

Funds for the project came from a P490-million loan to the provincial government by the Land Bank of the Philippines and the World Bank, which provided P10 million in consultancy fees.

The sports complex, which would have housed a coliseum, an Olympic-size swimming pool and a rubberized track, was supposed to be finished on April 12, 2010.

When the deadline came, however, the contractor, Izumo, had yet to build the swimming pool and the rubberized track, while the coliseum was far from complete.

Bautista said then Governor Cagas approved Izumo’s request for a deadline extension to Jan. 16, 2011.

The new deadline came but the project still was not complete, said Bautista.

Documents showed that Izumo got a third deadline extension on July 26, 2011, which Bautista said was highly questionable.

Bautista said that after Izumo repeatedly failed to beat its deadline, the logical thing that the previous administration should have done was to rescind the provincial government’s contract with Lee’s company.

The contract, however, was not rescinded, said Bautista.

The delays have jacked up the project cost to more than P500 million now, said Bautista.

To add insult to injury, Bautista said Izumo had asked him for another deadline extension and fresh funds to finish the project, which had been declared 95-percent complete.

“We told them no,” he said.

Bautista said that because he had become suspicious of the deal surrounding the project, he had ordered an investigation into it.

“After a three-month investigation, we have come up with findings and it firmed up some of our doubts,” he said, confirming that “some anomalies” had indeed taken place. Inquirer Mindanao