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Work on $2.8M emergency center project delayed
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Posted on Mar 12 2009
The contractor for the $2.8 million construction of the CNMI Emergency Operations Center on Capital Hill is asking for a five-month extension to complete the project due to change orders and delays caused by last year’s weather, Saipan Tribune learned yesterday.
Once completed, the project will provide a state-of-the-art command and control center to better equip the CNMI to address both man-made and natural disasters.
The project was originally targeted to be completed tomorrow, March 14. But a visit to the project site yesterday showed only about 50 percent of construction is completed.
Mark Pangelinan, deputy director of the Emergency Management Office, said the project was initiated in 2003 when the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded some $4 million in competitive grant for it. EMO owns the Emergency Operation Center.
“The construction contract was awarded to GPPC Inc.; it’s about $2.8 million, but they’re asking for an extension to complete it,” Pangelinan said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers serves as project engineers, while the designer is Group 70 International.
“We told the Army Corps to minimize change orders as much as possible,” Pangelinan said, adding that delays and change orders usually mean additional project costs.
Dennis Tupaz, GPPC’s engineer-in-charge at the project site, said the five-month request for extension is due to change orders, some of which are still under negotiation, as well as the rainy weather last year.
“We’re about 50 percent complete with the project. The most expensive part of it is the electrical and mechanical wiring inside,” he said, adding that there are “some additional costs” as a result of change orders.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Emergency Operations Center was held on April 11, 2008.
