90% Cost Overruns on School Construction

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Dominican Govt. agency overseers find 90% cost overrun





Santo Domingo.- The Oversight Committee of the State Works Supervisory Engineers Office (OISOE) on Monday said construction cost on some schools have skyrocketed 90% above budget, in violation of the law.

In a letter sent July 14 to Presidency chief of staff Gustavo Montalvo quoted by elcaribe.com.do, committee members said the irregularities in some schools are as high as 90% over budget.

They said the school at the Savica sector of the capital was budgeted at RD$54.5 million but has cost RD$99.6 million thus far, or RD$45.1 million more, for a 82.83% jump.

"We understand that the process used to allocate the construction of schools does not guarantee transparency in the process of construction. We suggest the lottery process to strengthen and serve to select a short list that will compete by presenting a budget that requires them to work according to what they have committed to do the same," the overseers warn.

Delayed information

In the letter, observers Radham?s Mej?a, Jes?s Moreno, Mariluz Arias, Addys Then and Daniel ?scar also complained of delays to hand over requested information on the current status of constructions.

i posted, some time back, that the push to build all these schools by the Medina administration had a nice, cheery countenance, but it was just a cash cow for the kleptocratic elements which form the government. well, here you have it. 90% cost overruns, in certain cases.

so, the arithmetic is simple. when you spend all the money on fixed capital expenditure, there will be nothing left for recurrent expenditure, namely paying teachers of any meaningful quality.

there are several working papers which state, with cross country studies, that the more corrupt a government is, the more it spends on fixed capital projects. here you have some proof.
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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Not only THAT, but once the schools are finally built, and Danilo has done his"Dog & Pony Show" dedication, there are no qualified teachers to teach, and no desks or other furniture to hold classes!

The "BIG KICKBACKS" are in the CONSTRUCTION!!!!!
Nothing NEW HERE!!!!!

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the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Not only THAT, but once the schools are finally built, and Danilo has done his"Dog & Pony Show" dedication, there are no qualified teachers to teach, and no desks or other furniture to hold classes!

The "BIG KICKBACKS" are in the CONSTRUCTION!!!!!
Nothing NEW HERE!!!!!

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

yes..Danilo, the original Edward Scissorhands, will be cutting ribbons aplenty all over the country. then the Department of Statistics will tell us that literacy and academic achievement went up by 50% in one year.

it is to laugh.
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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Thus it is with government construction throughout the world. I used to work as a contract liaison officer, making sure deadlines were met, so the company could get their payments on time from the government. If it isn't in the contract, word for word, there is usually a legal mechanism to get more money and time from the government. I'm sure Dominican contractors are experts on this type of action.
The companies that have the contracts to build the schools do not have the contracts to fill them with desks, computers....etc., at least not in most cases. I know an engineer here in Jarabacoa that was awarded a contract to build a school in Constanza. All his family and buddies were acting like he won the lottery; guess he did.
As someone who is currently adding on to the school we built last year I can tell you it is expensive but I know it will be much cheaper, and better built than most of the government schools.
 

PICHARDO

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May 15, 2003
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Dominican Govt. agency overseers find 90% cost overrun





Santo Domingo.- The Oversight Committee of the State Works Supervisory Engineers Office (OISOE) on Monday said construction cost on some schools have skyrocketed 90% above budget, in violation of the law.

In a letter sent July 14 to Presidency chief of staff Gustavo Montalvo quoted by elcaribe.com.do, committee members said the irregularities in some schools are as high as 90% over budget.

They said the school at the Savica sector of the capital was budgeted at RD$54.5 million but has cost RD$99.6 million thus far, or RD$45.1 million more, for a 82.83% jump.

"We understand that the process used to allocate the construction of schools does not guarantee transparency in the process of construction. We suggest the lottery process to strengthen and serve to select a short list that will compete by presenting a budget that requires them to work according to what they have committed to do the same," the overseers warn.

Delayed information

In the letter, observers Radham?s Mej?a, Jes?s Moreno, Mariluz Arias, Addys Then and Daniel ?scar also complained of delays to hand over requested information on the current status of constructions.

i posted, some time back, that the push to build all these schools by the Medina administration had a nice, cheery countenance, but it was just a cash cow for the kleptocratic elements which form the government. well, here you have it. 90% cost overruns, in certain cases.

so, the arithmetic is simple. when you spend all the money on fixed capital expenditure, there will be nothing left for recurrent expenditure, namely paying teachers of any meaningful quality.

there are several working papers which state, with cross country studies, that the more corrupt a government is, the more it spends on fixed capital projects. here you have some proof.

The thing the article fails to mention on the same report is that costs overruns for the highest listed works were mostly due in part to changes needed to meet constructions codes for seismic reinforcement. The entire building sites needed to have steel and reinforced concrete columns inserted deep into the ground for the whole thing to be safe. This increased the costs as the materials needed to meet the codes was increased and an entire new contractor called in to perform the needed modifications. The OISOE approved the changes on the original contracts.

As far as the rest of the cost overruns by an average 25% reflected the higher prices of construction materials and the depuration of the subcontractor's workforce to meet new enforcement guidelines for legal workers.

The two schools will have 2 buildings of 3 floors each, making the seismic reinforcements imperative. Each of them were engineered with the capacity to expand 2 more floors in the future if needed.
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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You failed to mention how the building codes were overlooked in the first place. Did the DR just start having earthquakes yesterday?
 

Criss Colon

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The thing the article fails to mention on the same report is that costs overruns for the highest listed works were mostly due in part to changes needed to meet constructions codes for seismic reinforcement. The entire building sites needed to have steel and reinforced concrete columns inserted deep into the ground for the whole thing to be safe. This increased the costs as the materials needed to meet the codes was increased and an entire new contractor called in to perform the needed modifications. The OISOE approved the changes on the original contracts.

As far as the rest of the cost overruns by an average 25% reflected the higher prices of construction materials and the depuration of the subcontractor's workforce to meet new enforcement guidelines for legal workers.

The two schools will have 2 buildings of 3 floors each, making the seismic reinforcements imperative. Each of them were engineered with the capacity to expand 2 more floors in the future if needed.

A new HIGH in SPIN!
Even for PEE CHAD DOUGH!!!!

90% over budget for earth quake regulations????
Must have been the same guy who built the useless parking garage at the Gov.Univ. in SD!

Say "HI" to him at your next family reunion here!!!!
 

bob saunders

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Jan 1, 2002
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You failed to mention how the building codes were overlooked in the first place. Did the DR just start having earthquakes yesterday?

No, but if they changed the requirements, especially after construction started it would require a redo, an expensive one.
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Revised code requirements introduced for seismic design end 2012, but I doubt this explains such a large overrun.

this is 2015. if the designs were revamped in 2012, i need to know why buildings did not include the upgrades in their estimates.-
 

ju10prd

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The OP was a copy of what was printed in Dominican Today.

Unfortunately this journal does not always report news stories correctly unlike DR1.

The basis of the story is a complaint made by Bishop Holguin in relation to construction cost. CODIA have been asked to assess if there indeed has been overspending and if so the reasons for any overspend.

You wonder what is afoot if there is no news in any other media about this other than Dominican Today.

Codia will assess whether sobrevaluan costs schools -

Codia evaluar? si sobreval?an costos escuelas -

El Caribe » Favorece Codia verifique costos de escuelas

OISOE - Portal Institucional Dominican Today mention OISIE but no news here either
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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The OP was a copy of what was printed in Dominican Today.

Unfortunately this journal does not always report news stories correctly unlike DR1.

The basis of the story is a complaint made by Bishop Holguin in relation to construction cost. CODIA have been asked to assess if there indeed has been overspending and if so the reasons for any overspend.

You wonder what is afoot if there is no news in any other media about this other than Dominican Today.

Codia will assess whether sobrevaluan costs schools -

Codia evaluar? si sobreval?an costos escuelas -

El Caribe » Favorece Codia verifique costos de escuelas

OISOE - Portal Institucional Dominican Today mention OISIE but no news here either

i guess you checked with elcaribe .com then...
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
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You failed to mention how the building codes were overlooked in the first place. Did the DR just start having earthquakes yesterday?

The actual lots were not as sound on solid ground as when proposed. The lots were (on paper) pre cleared by the gov prior to OISOE budgeting for the actual construction.

A study found the actual grounds where the buildings were to be built inadequate for such structures and still meet the codes.

Using contractors previously hired for similar reinforced grounding from works in the SD Metro and other jobs, the OISOE saved money and met the updated codes for the school's structures.

There were two variables: There was no different codes for a building of 2 floors or 4 back in the days when the previous schools were built. Given that extensive seismic studies were not carried out by the use of old maps employed for that end in the DR, the new maps require that zones not clearly detailed in a safe zone must be resampled. The contractor did just that and found the need to change the original plans and in doing so the costs went higher.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
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Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
this is 2015. if the designs were revamped in 2012, i need to know why buildings did not include the upgrades in their estimates.-

The lot was in a still marked as safe area on the old map. When the contractor carried out the studies it wasn't as represented on the old map.

The results were reported to the OISOE and they approved the new changes and budget updates.
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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The lot was in a still marked as safe area on the old map. When the contractor carried out the studies it wasn't as represented on the old map.

The results were reported to the OISOE and they approved the new changes and budget updates.

my only problem with your convoluted explanations is that you speak about a singular entity, while the article uses the word SOME.

by the way, please tell us what studies the contractor carried out. i guess he is multitasking as a seismologist....