Kagman school design flawed – Hofschneider

Backing claims by the Public School System on the state of the Kagman school project, the chair of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare yesterday called for immediate solution to rectify what could become serious structural problems.

Both PSS and the Department of Public Works should work out a plan to jointly supervise the project’s construction which has already been delayed by at least four months, according to Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider.

He charged officials of “lack of supervision” at the jobsite, which he visited on Tuesday to investigate the controversy over PSS’s threat to terminate the contract of Pac United Corp. if it doesn’t “shape up” and improve its work.

In a budget hearing on PSS by the House Ways and Means Committee, Hofschneider disclosed that there have been flaws in the design, procedures and the pre-fabricated materials being used for its construction which may pose serious threat when earthquake strikes the island in the future.

“It’s primarily lack of supervision and inconsistency as to who is responsible to oversee the construction management,” he told PSS officials and members of the Legislature.

“It is rectifiable… so long as we agree on who is responsible for the whole thing,” Hofschneider added.

Although PSS acknowledged the need to get more involved in the building phase of the school, it stopped short of laying the blame to DPW for its failure to hire a construction manager for the project.

Anthony Pellegrino, member of the Board of Education, said at the hearing that they have been given the responsibility to supervise the project, but not the authority to make decisions.

“You are accurate in your appraisal,” he told the HEW chairman, adding that they have assigned a PSS staff who only serves as a “watchdog” to DPW.

According to the BOE member in charge with infrastructure projects of PSS, a budget of $80,000 was allotted for the public works to hire a construction manager, but nothing concrete came out of the plan.

DPW has been given expenditure authority on the $6 million elementary school, which was set for completion in October, but later moved to April following the slow pace of its construction.

Pac United has pledged to expedite the project by hiring engineers and inspectors in the wake of the PSS warning. DPW has also sent inspectors to assist the contractor.

Hofschneider said both government agencies should sit down and delineate their responsibilities. “It is at a stage where any inferior workmanship or a structural defect in the building itself maybe removed or remedied.”

He added that “it is now the appropriate time to make those efforts very clear and it requires the participation of the technical division of DPW and also PSS in making sure that they clearly define their roles.”