About two-thirds or 67 of 94 flood control projects under the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) were delayed, state auditors found in its latest report.

In its annual audit report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said that only 27 projects worth P234.47 million were completed within 2020; 26 of those were completed during the third and fourth quarter of the same year.

This delay, COA said, “[defeated] the intent of mitigating or preventing the impact of heavy rains to the public at large to which these projects could easily serve their purposes.”

Of the total, nine projects worth P102.38 million have yet to be started, while 25 projects with a budget of P386.36 million have yet to receive funding from the Department of Budget and Management or their contracts have yet to be finalized.

COA also noted that 20 flood control projects were neither completed nor implemented during the specific contract time in 2020, due to inadequate planning and lack of coordination with other agencies and stakeholders.

The MMDA acknowledged the state auditors’ observations, and said Chairman Benhur Abalos had required contractors to speed up the completion of projects.

The COA audit report covered the year 2020. Abalos assumed office only in January 2021.

The MMDA’s flood control and sewerage management office has agreed to expedite the implementation of procurement activities and the completion of projects as early as the first quarter of the year, according to COA.

Apart from flood control projects, failure to follow the procurement plan and the lack of coordination with the local government units (LGUs), communities, and other government agencies seem to hound the MMDA’s other projects.

COA said that P1.89 billion worth of traffic and environmental projects under the traffic engineering center (TEC), MMDA metrobase, and the health and environmental protection office (HEPO) were either delayed or not completed.

State auditors said it was understandable that bidding activities and completion of projects were affected due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It said, however, that “the issues in the need for coordination with the LGUs, communities and other agencies, i.e. Department of Transportation, are those factors which are unintentional but procedural and consequential that may affect the timely completion of the projects.”

COA said that MMDA, through TEC, metrobase, and HEPO, agreed to improve coordination with government agencies and other stakeholders. The MMDA offices also gave assurances that factors that can be controlled by the agency will be addressed prior to project implementation. – Rappler.com