THE Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) said Thursday that the groundbreaking for the rehabilitation of Marawi City’s most affected area (MAA) has been reset for August following “unsuccessful negotiations” with the Bagong Marawi Consortium (BMC) last month.
“We had an unsuccessful negotiation with the Bagong Marawi Consortium, and now we are in the process of negotiating with the next in line, which is Power China. With regard to the details of the ongoing negotiations, I was informed that the groundbreaking is reset for the third or last week of August,” TFBM and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairperson Eduardo D. del Rosario said in a briefing at the Palace.
The delay in the selection of the developer, according to Mr. del Rosario, will “not affect” the government’s “target date of completion, which is at the last quarter of 2021.”
HUDCC Secretary General Falconi Ace Millar said Power China has yet to tap some local companies “to meet the 75-25” requirement, referring to the foreign and local mix of participants. “So, definitely, it will not be solely undertaken by Power China,” he said.
As for BMC, Mr. Millar said it failed to satisfy requirements “with regard to financial, technical, and legal aspects.”
“For example, with regard to legal compliance, some of the documents were not translated into English. We had a hard time reviewing these documents, which were submitted in Chinese. With regard to financial capacity, we required them to comply with the equity requirement or to show proof of set-aside deposits, which they have failed to comply with,” Mr. Millar said.
Mr. Del Rosario said that in terms of the timetable, “We are on time. We programed the rehabilitation in such a way that we will be able to complete [it] not later than December of 2021. We are on time.”
Mr. Del Rosario added that President Rodrigo R. Duterte has not expressed any “displeasure” over the progress of the rehabilitation. “The President is very appreciative when things go right, and he has always said that the government has acted fast in Marawi. He has also said that had he assigned other people to the job we might still be building transitory shelters.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

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