BAUKO, Mountain Province – The municipal government criticized the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) for its alleged failure to pursue the construction of the proposed P7 million municipal fire station for over four years now despite the availability of the required land that was donated by the municipality for the said purpose.
Mayor Abraham B. Akilit stated that the local government is contemplating on cancelling the deed of donation executed for the 400-square meter property to the BFP for the put up of the municipal fire station.
He disclosed that the BFP national headquarters bids out the construction of fire stations in the different parts of the country and the municipality was lucky to be the recipient of a P7 million fund for the construction of a municipal fire station.
However, the local chief executive claimed that the general contractor who win the bid for the said projects is now allegedly looking for any takers to sub-contract the various projects but the allocated municipal fire station for the municipality has not yet been built.
According to him, the BFP should constantly update the beneficiaries of its fire station projects on these plans so that the concerned municipal officials will be fully aware if the said plans will push through or not.
Mayor Akilit explained that when the BFP was looking for a property to construct the proposed municipal fire station, fire officers have been constantly visiting the municipality to lobby for the processing of the deed of donation for the property to be used for the project.
The municipal mayor stipulated that he is not aware of the situation in other municipalities in the region that had been identified by the BFP as beneficiaries of the fire stations that will be constructed to help in enhancing the firefighting efforts of lower-class towns in the different parts of the country.
He admitted that the local government had been constantly following up the matter with the BFP over the past several years but it seems that concerned fire officers cannot give their commitment for the actual start of implementation of programmed projects whose funds are already available.
Akilit opined it seems t there are no local takers of the project because the winning general contractor is giving out the project for a cost that is way below the programmed funds for the said project aside from the fact that the municipal government does not want any project in the municipality which will below standard.
Under the previous guidelines governing the put up of the fire stations, P4 million had been programmed for fire stations situated in flat areas while P7 million had been earmarked for the construction of the fire stations in elevated areas that need excavation and other works to suit the existing terrain in the area.
He asserted that the municipal government will cancel the deed of donation for the land donated for this proposed project if the BFP will not be courteous enough in informing local officials on the status of the project and not just simply be silent on the matter when the funds for the same had already been provided. By HENT
