KALIBO, Aklan – Some P60-million unutilized funds for the public market here would be remitted to the National Treasury, according to Engineer Alejandro Ventilacion of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Aklan District Engineering Office.
The unspent funds were allotted in 2020 supposedly for the construction of a new market, but the local government of Kalibo failed to secure a temporary relocation site for market vendors for the duration of the new market’s construction.
On September 2019, fire partially destroyed the decades-old Kalibo public market along Toting Reyes Street and Roxas Avenue Extension.
The funds had the required Special Allotment Request Order from the Department of Budget and Management.
“Malabo na ma-resolve itong isyu sa relokasyon ng vendors itong taon. Ang mga contractors ay alanganin na rin dahil iba na ang costing kung ngayon nila sisimulan ang proyekto,” said Ventilacion.
The local government eyed as relocation site a property in Barangay Andagaw through a loan with a government bank. But majority members of the Sangguniang Bayan opposed the purchase, citing among others the availability of more affordable options for a relocation site, and the untimely submission of a feasibility study and due diligence report before the special session on April 8, 2021.
“Dapat nasimulan ang proyekto noong Nov. 26, 2020. Ang 2020 budget para sa construction ng public market ay hanggang December itong taon ang disbursement. Wala na tayong oras kung hihintayin pa natin kung kailan magkakaroon ng relocation site,” said Ventilacion./PN
