• THERESA MAE DULMAN
The City Engineer’s Office (CEO) clarified that the local government unit has no approval authority over the P328-million budget, variations, or time extensions for the redevelopment of the public plaza and the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) fountain area.
City Engineer Loben Rafael Ceballos said Oct. 7 that the projects are national government initiatives funded and implemented directly by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).
Ceballos said the CEO continuously coordinates with TIEZA, assists in the preliminary documentation, and monitors construction quality as the project’s designated end-user.
He added that the city government also facilitated stakeholder input, such as a green barrier proposal from the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) Bacolod chapter.
Mayor Greg Gasataya said they will meet with TIEZA officials later this afternoon, Oct. 8.
He said all proposals and suggestions submitted by various stakeholder groups were compiled and presented to TIEZA during the visit of its chief executive officer, Mark Lapid.
The mayor said the agency was amenable to the proposed plans, but for unknown reasons, the commitments made by TIEZA for the public plaza redevelopment were not carried out.
“Our agreement with TIEZA during the discussion—together with congressman Albee, Vice Mayor Puentevella, and city councilors—was to let MassKara proceed for now, but after MassKara, TIEZA committed to restore the plaza. We also told them to look at the proposals submitted by various groups in Bacolod,” Gasataya said. | TMD
