BAGUIO CITY December 10 – The City Buildings and Architecture office (CBAO) blamed the winning contractor of the P1.2 million city government-sponsored Christmas tree at the top of Session Road for its failures to comply with project specifications and standards as prepared by the said office.
In a report to Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan, Arch. Homer M. Soriano, CBAO planning and design head, sad based on an ocular inspection conducted on the Christmas tree, it was found out that there were lacking items that was supposed to be supplied and deficiencies that were needed to be rectified to enhance the aesthetic aspect of the said structure as originally planned.
Among the observations raised by the members of the inspection team were poor quality of work for the panaflex with its corners not securely fastened, panaflex sheet not stretched, quantity of Christmas lights as per submitted estimate of contractor was not followed, ascending rope light not synchronized, two spotlights were installed and located near the star, two floodlights were installed at the base, neon blue stripe/rope light at the corner base of the semi-circular panaflex lighting not installed, there are only 12 gift boxes installed, steel matting of frame for gift boxes were not installed, LED tube lights were installed contrary to LED strip lights as per approved plans and specifications, alcove lighting and groove lighting as reflected in the plans were not followed, panaflex tripes design on the tree has no continuity, panaflex acrylic plastic cover as reflected in the plans were not followed, orange pots were used instead of green and Christmas letterings are not specified in plans.
The team recommended the contractor Pilipinas Realty Corporation to stick the edges of the stripes with reflectorized or colored green and red neutral plastic, add more potted plants at the terrace portion of the tree on both sides and provide LED strip lights at the base of the tree.
The contractor was also ordered to repair all panaflex by following proper procedures for installing the said type of material, install all prescribed Christmas lights, synchronize and re-program lights, change floodlights to spotlights as per approved plans and specifications, install all 18 gift boxes, install steel matting frames for gift boxes, follow wavy design as per plans, follow lighting materials, prefabricate corners and attach follow design as per approved plans and specifications.
Many nitizens criticized the city government for a bad taste in the installation of the Christmas tree at the top of Session road which should have been one of the major tourist attractions in the city during the Yuletide season.
For his part, Domogan said the city government welcomes all suggestions and recommendations on how to improve the Christmas tree in future undertakings and extended the open invitation to interested designers to help the various offices of the city to design the tree in the future for the local government to be able to present a much better Christmas tree for the public to appreciate.
