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Friday, July 21, 2006
Talisay CH shows cracks, defects
Less than three years after its completion, the multi-million-peso Talisay City Hall, a pet project of Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district), already shows surface wall cracks and plumbing defects in its toilets.
The City Council, whose members were the pioneering batch of elective officials to occupy the new edifice, passed a resolution requesting City Engineer Audie Bacasmas to appear and explain the defects in the next session.
The council tackled the problem after Councilor Rodi Cabigas, committee chairman on public works and infrastructures, expressed concern on what he described as structural flaws of the building.
Early this month, Cabigas called on Bacasmas to conduct a thorough inspection and submit recommendations to his committee.
“I was appalled, never discounting the fact that our new City Hall building was erected just a few years ago and yet we are coming upon this heartrending situation. As chairman of public works and infrastructures, I am alike responsible for securing the safety of the entire building,” read Cabigas’ July 6 letter to Bacasmas.
A July 17 evaluation report of Bacasmas showed indeed that several offices, including those of the mayor, vice mayor, council members and department heads, have been suffering from either “hairline or big” wall cracks.
The report said the mayor’s office on the second floor has hairline cracks on its walls and floor tiles as well as a broken spout.
The office of Councilor Richel Bacaltos appeared to have suffered most with two millimeters (mm) to 3 mm wall cracks, misaligned main door, broken window lock and a 4-mm crack on the terrace column.
Among the department offices, the City Fire Department has cracks, with damaged ceiling due to water leaks.
The engineering personnel also have to open the ceiling outside the door of the canteen on the ground floor to fix the clogged up toilet on the upper ground floor.
Other comfort rooms also have broken tiles and hairline cracks, clogged-up urinals and defective closet control flush.
Sought for comment, Bacasmas allayed City Hall occupants’ fear that the building may have some major defects.
Bacasmas described these as mere superficial cracks, caused by the linking of the old and new concrete.
“It only needs patching (to cure the cracks),” he added.
Bacasmas, though, still has to estimate the total cost to rehabilitate the new building.
The City Hall was one of the major projects of Gullas, the first Talisay City mayor, who was instrumental in converting the old coastal town into a component city in 2001, through Republic Act 8979. (GC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 21, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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