• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Mayor Greg Gasataya said Sept. 8 that he will issue a show-cause order (SCO) on four personnel of the Supply and Property Section of the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) following the discovery of about 4,800 hardened cement bags in two CEO warehouses Sept. 6.
In a press conference at his office yesterday morning, Gasataya said the four employees will have 24 hours to explain, even as new personnel will be reassigned to the Supply Section while investigations and a complete inventory of materials and city purchases are made.
“We will assign a new team (of regular employees) who are not part of the Supply Section (in line) with the overhaul,” the mayor said, adding there is need for precise data on the supplies and stocks, based on actual inventory, and not just on paper.
He said he also directed the CEO to submit within 24 hours a status report of all city projects it supervised and implemented. Gasataya said he received several reports, subject to verification, of projects dating back 2022, or earlier, that are yet to be completed.
The CEO takes charge of all local engineering works in the highly-urbanized city, including construction, improvement, repair and maintenance of public infrastructure, both vertical and horizontal, and facilities.
Gasataya said the CEO report will be forwarded to the City Legal Office for appropriate actions, and if irregularities are found, “we will follow where the evidence will lead us”.
As to the 4,800 bags of wasted cement, earlier estimated by the city to cost about P1.1 million, the mayor said he will convene the Disposal Committee to assess and determine if these could still be used, donated, or needed to be disposed of.
Gasataya said the city will rent a much bigger warehouse so that cement that could still be used, numbering to about 8,000 bags, could be separated from those that have hardened, transferred, and properly stocked and inventoried.
The inspection of the CEO warehouses at the Bacolod City College compound and in Barangay Alijis Saturday, where the hardened cement bags were discovered, was due to Gasataya’s directive to the newly-formed Inventory Team to conduct a comprehensive audit of all government assets, including stocks and supplies under the CEO, the city had said.
“We will ensure that these things will not happen again,” the mayor stressed as he called on other city offices and departments to inform him of any problem or concern that needs to be immediately addressed.
“Please let me know. We are not here for witch-hunting. We are here to improve the services and, most important, indi mausik ang kuwarta sang gobyerno as these are all your taxes,” Gasataya told city employees at the flag-raising ceremony yesterday. | CGC
