Mokpo City in South Jeolla Province is facing suspicion for pushing ahead with a 5 billion won supervisory services project on the eve of an election. The controversy is widening, with the possibility of an audit being raised, as the city effectively placed the order before funding negotiations and usage approval had been completed.
According to reporting by Seoul Economic Daily on the 11th, the Mokpo City Clean Water Project Team reissued a public notice on April 22 titled "Notice for Submission of Service Performance Capability Evaluation for Integrated Construction Management Services for the Namak Public Sewage Treatment Facility Expansion Project and One Other Project (Urgent)." The total project cost reaches 42 billion won including national funding, with supervisory services alone amounting to 5.2 billion won.
However, questions are being raised about the administration as Mokpo City bundled the project, for which funding negotiations have not even been completed, with an existing aged pipeline project and issued an urgent order under an integrated supervision format.
Above all, the "government approval" that Mokpo City cited as justification is also questionable.
The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office stated that funding negotiations are "currently underway" for the Namak public sewage treatment facility expansion project. "The total project cost for this project has not yet been finalized," an official at the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office said. "We sent an official document requesting supplementation to Mokpo City in January, and the city is still in the process of supplementing it."
Furthermore, while Mokpo City invoked the government agency's judgment, the agency in question — the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office — drew a line by saying "this is not a matter for us to intervene in," raising concerns about the credibility of the administration.
Criticism has also been raised that administrative procedures have effectively been reduced to mere formalities.
Under the Sewerage Act framework, a project is only finalized after going through funding negotiation and usage approval procedures, yet Mokpo City pushed ahead with the order by including the unconfirmed project within the supervision scope.
When asked about the matter, a relevant public official from another local government commented, "Procedurally, there are clearly aspects that do not fit. While it is difficult to conclude that the supervisory services order itself is impossible, why it was pushed through as urgent in such an excessive manner must be administratively explained."
In response, an official at Mokpo City explained, "We placed an urgent order because bundling it with the existing aged sewage pipeline project would also reduce the city's own funding burden," adding, "There is absolutely no problem with an integrated supervision order."
As distrust grows that Mokpo City may have inverted procedures for administrative convenience, attention is turning to the Board of Audit and Inspection's judgment. In past audits related to local contracts, the Board of Audit and Inspection has repeatedly pointed out cases of "inappropriate contracts" or procedural violations where orders were pushed through without clear grounds for project promotion or sufficient reasons for urgent contracts.
