NIA ‘blacklists’ 3 contractors; forfeits P2 billion ‘performance’ bond

THE National Irrigation Administration (NIA) headed by former AFP chief, Gen. Ricardo Visaya, announced the blacklisting of 3 contractors for failure to deliver on their contract obligations and the forfeiture of their performance bonds totaling more than P2 billion.

In a statement last February 18, 2021, NIA said banned from participating in any contract bid until January 22, 2022 are:

‘MAC Builders’ and ‘Premium Megastructure,’ both based in Ormoc City, Leyte; and, the consortium of ‘ITP/Guangxi Construction’ based in Quezon City.

The blacklisting was recommended by NIA’s Contract Termination Review Committee (CTRC) for violation of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

MAC Builders is the contractor for the Malinao Dam Improvement Project (MDIP) located in Pilar, Bohol province worth P730.945 under Contract No. R7-MDIPD-C-2R and for which it posted P219.30 million in performance bond.

Premium Megastructures, meanwhile, is the contractor for the P273.508-million Bonot-Bonot Earthfill Dam and its appurtenant structures located in Buenavista, Bohol province under contract number, SRIPD-C-27R and for which it posted a performance bond of P82,052,675.21 has been forfeited.

On the other hand, under Contract No. R3-BBMPIID-C-6, ITP/Guangxi Construction was awarded the P5.863-billion Balog-Balog Storage Dam and its appurtenant structures under the Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project – Phase II (BBMP-II) located in Bgy. Maamot, San Jose, Tarlac and for which the consortium posted a bond of P1,759,116,280.55.

“The blacklisting of the three contractors was made in penalty for their failure to fully and faithfully comply with contractual obligations without valid cause or non-compliance to any written lawful instruction of the procuring entity (NIA) or its representatives pursuant to the implementation of the contract,” the agency said.

The contractors were also cited for the absence of minimum essential equipment “necessary to prosecute the contract works in accordance with the approved work plan and equipment deployment schedule as required for the projects.”

‘Big-ticket projects’ under close monitoring

Meanwhile, Visaya assured that his office is closely monitoring the progress of NIA ‘big-ticket projects’ running into the billions of pesos.

These include the P11.212-billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II (JRMP-II) in Calinog, Iloilo which broke ground on February 27, 2019; the P4.37-billion Chico River Pump Irrigation Project (CRPIP) in Pinukpuk, Kalinga which broke ground on August 08, 2018; and, the P13.37 billion Tarlac Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project Phase II (TBBMP-II) located in San Jose, Tarlac which broke ground on July 18, 2017.

The JRMP-II Project Management Office reported that as of December 2020, it has already attained 41.90 percent project accomplishment against the target of 29.55 percent.

JRMP-II is NIA’s 8th big ticket irrigation project under the “Build, Build, Build” Program of Pres. Duterte and the first large-scale reservoir outside Luzon.

The project includes the construction of three dams: a 109-meter-high dam, a 38-meter afterbay dam across the Jalaur River, and a catch dam in Alibunan River.

An 80-kilometer high-line canal will also be constructed to deliver irrigation water from the dams to the rice paddies.

Upon completion, JRMP-II is expected to provide year-round irrigation water supply to 9,500 hectares of new irrigable areas and rehabilitation of 22,340 hectares covered by five existing irrigation systems in 23 municipalities and two cities in the Province of Iloilo, benefiting 22,000 farmers and their families.

The project is also expected to create 17,000 employment opportunities during the project implementation.

Rice production is also expected to increase, from 3.6 metric tons to 5 metric tons per hectare while “incidental benefits” such as development of eco-cultural tourism, fish culture, flood mitigation, and watershed management are also expected to be generated.

On the other hand the CRPIP Project Management Office reported an actual physical accomplishment of 55.49 percent against the target of 58.99 percent as of December 2020 while TBBMP-II reported an actual physical accomplishment of 37.60 percent against the target of 74.97 percent.

The changes in the accomplishment are due to the ongoing revision of Overall Program of Works (POW) of the irrigation projects, the agency explained.

Once completed, CRPIP will provide substantial and timely irrigation water supply to 8,700 hectares of agricultural land in the Municipality of Tuao and Piat in Cagayan, and the Municipality of Pinukpuk in Kalinga, benefiting 4,350 farmers and their families.

The project is expected to create 14,784 jobs during project implementation and 8,700 permanents jobs when the project becomes completely operational.

Furthermore, it targets to contribute 36,217 metric tons of milled rice to the country’s rice supply while an incremental income of more than P75,000, per hectare per year is also expected.

On completion, TBBMP-II is expected to provide year-round irrigation to approximately 34,410 hectares of agricultural land in 10 municipalities in the Province of Tarlac, namely Paniqui, Pura, Victoria, Ramos, Gerona, San Jose, La Paz, Capas, Concepcion, and Tarlac City, benefitting around 23,000 farmers and their families.

As a multipurpose dam, the hydropower project within the facility can generate at least 43.5 megawatts of electricity. The high dam can also store up to 560 million cubic meters (MCM) which can increase the cropping intensity in the project area from 124 percent to 200 percent.