CCMC construction on track with timeline

CEBU, Philippines — Contrary to newspaper reports, the construction of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) has not been stopped and is on track with the targeted opening by yearend, the hospital administration said.

Kenneth Siasar, CCMC hospital administrator, said C.E. Padilla Construction Inc., contractor of the CCMC project, continues doing civil works on the building.

“The construction is ongoing. I did not receive any orders to stop its construction,” he told The FREEMAN.

On April 6, Mayor Tomas Osmeña issued memorandum requesting the contractor of the project to temporarily suspend construction. The mayor said the temporary suspension would be good for 90 days, which would finish next month.

“The temporary suspension of works is appropriate to prevent government wastage of funds pending the adjustment of plans and designs,” read the memorandum.

Yesterday, Osmeña clarified that he only ordered the suspension of the works for the interior portion of the building.

On his Facebook page, the mayor said the construction of the CCMC is not suspended.

“The only thing on hold is the installation of the plumbing, electrical wires, and air conditioners while the interior layout is being optimized to a more efficient and modern design. This SAVES money over having to redo everything after it already completed,” his post read.

In a text message to The FREEMAN, the mayor said the memorandum of suspension of construction was specific only to certain work items of the project which include interior partitioning, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection.

The mayor said this measure is to ensure optimal efficiency for the operations of the hospital as well as save government funds as rework and retrofitting cost will be avoided in the future.

Siasar said the contractor is now finishing the first phase of the CCMC building.

However, he said there are minor changes in the interior portion of the building to conform with the Department of Health-7’s guidelines.

To recall, the old CCMC building was demolished in 2014 by former mayor Michael Rama’s administration after it was declared unsafe following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit Central Visayas in 2013.

Meanwhile, Siasar said that because of lack of budget, the hospital will operate with six stories instead of 10.

“The building is already 10 stories. But atong budget is good for six floors. We will still have a 10-story hospital building pero atong unahon ang first six floors nga ma-operational by the end of the year para naa nay magamit ang publiko,” Siasar said.

Once the first six floors will be operational, he said, additional budget to work on the remaining floors of the hospital building will be proposed.

Siasar said the city’s Department of Engineering and Public Works and C.E. Padilla are still working on the reconciliation of their data for the termination of the first phase.

The second phase, he said, it covers the architectural design and interior portions of the hospital.

He said there will also be an evaluation to check the need to conduct public bidding for the second phase or whether it be continued by the same contractor.

He said the contractor has set to submit its actual percentage of civil works to the city government for evaluation. — JMD (FREEMAN)