Repairs of sports swimming pool completed

THE ZAMBOANGA City Sports Division announced the completion of repairs of the swimming pool at the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex and is now ready for public use.

Before and after photos of the Olympic-sized swimming pool at the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex in Barangay Baliwasan. (Images: City Govt.)

City Sports Director Dr. Cecil Atilano said the rehabilitation and repair of the Olympic-sized swimming pool started in two years ago along with the fencing of the four tennis courts inside the 619,000 square foot multi-use sports complex which can hold around 10,000 people. 

Last January, the Department of Public Works and Highways, which is responsible for the rehabilitation of the sports complex, and its contractors, also committed to repair damaged rubberized track at the stadium after Mayor Beng Climaco together with Vice Mayor Rommel Agan and Councilor Bong Atilano and personnel from the City Engineer’s Office and City Sports Division made a surprise inspection. 

After the inspection, Climaco’s group held a meeting with representatives from the DPWH and contractors RCDG Construction Corporation and R.U. Aquino Construction and Development Corporation. The project is a joint venture between the two contractors and they committed to undertake rehabilitation of damaged facilities, particularly the rubberized track. It was started on March 21, 2016 and completed on January 1, 2019. 

In September last year, DPWH Project Engineer Shadimar Jalaidi said they told the private contractors to immediately repair the damaged portion of the rubberized track. 

Jalaidi said the contractors will start the repair soon because the project is still within the one-year warranty period since the formal turnover of the P199-million sports complex in February 2021. He said the certificate of completion and other bills for final payment have also been withheld pending corrective measures on the defects. 

DPWH Assistant Secretary Maximo Carvajal, who led the turnover of the sports complex together with DPWH Regional Director Cayamombao Dia, bragged that the stadium, built in 1992, is now back to its old glory. They even claimed the complex as “world class” after the rehabilitation and Dia praised those behind it and the perseverance and hard work of the men and women of DPWH-9, including the designers, the estimators, the project supervision team and the contractor for successfully implementing the project that started.” 

The project involves the construction of the oval track, ball game courts, playing field, bleachers, toilet and shower, and other facilities. It also includes general painting works for the entire building and roofs, replacement of lighting fixtures, installation of roll-up doors, upgrading of plumbing systems, construction of new septic vault, and new gates along the Western Mindanao State University and R.T. Lim Boulevard. 

The stadium was damaged after it was used by the government as temporary shelter for thousands of families displaced by the siege of 2013 when loyal supporters of Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari raided Zamboanga and street battle lasted for three weeks leaving dozens of people dead. (Zamboanga Post)