WITH the confirmation that the track oval at the Cebu City Sports Center is indeed substandard, the general public will just have to wait a little bit longer to use the facility.
In a phone interview on Monday, July 15, 2024, Edward Hayco, a commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), told VoxPop Cebu that the oval is only 398.5 meters, and not 400 meters, which is the standard circumference, based on the lines drawn.
The PSC was forced to tap a third party to revalidate the oval’s measurement after the findings of two surveyors’ didn’t match.
One said the oval confirmed to specifications, while the other said the oval was two meters short.
The matter was finally settled after Mendel Surveying Solutions Co. measured the oval Sunday night, July 14. The result showed that the oval was 1.5 meters short.
“The oval is correct, it is compliant. But the lines are not compliant,” Hayco said.
“When the lines were drawn, it was not compliant. The person that can answer it is the contractor on why was it not compliant,” he added.
He said that according to Jeanette Obiena, the games’ technical consultant, she gave the contractor the design and technical specifications last February. He said she did not know why the contractor did not comply.
“The contractor has to answer,” Hayco said.
This latest development means the oval will not be open to the public on Thursday, July 18, as earlier announced by the Cebu City Government, but sports enthusiasts can still use the center’s other facilities like the swimming pool and badminton courts, among others.
“Dili ko makahatag og final date regarding that matter because, remember, ipatawag baya nato ang contractor because he really has to look into it na pud. Iya nasad i-refurbish, iya nasad tan-awn ang remedies he has to do. He has to intervene kay para matarong nagyud ang atoang oval,” said Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia in a press conference at City Hall earlier on Monday.
(I cannot give a final date regarding that matter, because, remember, we still need to call the contractor since he really has to look into it again. He needs to refurbish and look at remedies to address the problem. He has to intervene so our oval will be up to standard.)
“Para kampante na gyud ta nga mao na gyud na ang saktong pagtrabaho,” he added.
(So that we are truly assured that the contractor has done the right thing.)
Garcia said they will wait for the Palarong Pambansa 2024 to finish so the contractor can immediately do its work already.
“After the Palaro, he can come in and do what he (contractor) has to do,” he said.
Garcia said it was to be expected that the newly laid rubber would suffer from wear and tear after the games, so the contractor also has to fix these.
The acting mayor’s press conference took place before the PSC commissioner confirmed that the oval was substandard.
However, Garcia said they would just wait for the complete findings and their recommendations to address the issue.
“If it’s just the markings on the oval, then we will withhold payment to the contractor unless he does everything to change these to conform to the specifications standard,” he said in a mix of Cebuano and English. / JPS