Wednesday, April 16, 2008 P60M facility ‘to prevent’ flooding
LANDCO Pacific Corp. (Landco) officials assured they will finish before June the P60-million water retention facilities that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña required of them when he revoked the firm’s development permits.
But Landco Vice President for Visayas and Mindanao Michael Reyes said, though, that they could not guarantee that no other landslide would occur in the vicinity of Monterrazas de Cebu in Barangay Guadalupe.
Osmeña warned that he would also cancel the business permits of all the contractors involved, including the developer’s, if another landslide occurs.
Landco is now working on the fifth water retention pond, which could hold up to 2,500 cubic meters of water. It has completed four ponds so far, with a capacity of 700 to 3,000 cubic meters each.
Reyes gave the assurance after the company received a copy of the notice of revocation of development permits signed by the mayor yesterday.
Osmeña revoked the permits after heavy rains washed limestone and soil from the construction site of the upscale residential resort, resulting in a landslide that submerged in muck nine houses in Sitio Dakit in Guadalupe.
Clear warning
“You have been given clear warning for possible mudslides due to the heavy earthmoving activities above populated areas. The actual mudslide is a factual evidence to the failure of your preventive measures,” he said in his order, which he issued by invoking on the public welfare clause of the Local Government Code.
Other than the construction of the retention ponds, proper disposal of existing spilled mud and related activities, Landco will not be allowed to do other earthmoving work in the site.
In his news conference yesterday, the mayor said he will have the retention ponds checked and if he finds them to be sufficient in preventing floods and landslides, Landco would be allowed to resume work.
The retention facilities are similar to dams, which would collect rainwater during the rainy season and gradually release the water during the dry months.
“We will consider granting them another permit but the burden of proof is on them. They have to show that they have taken preventive measures. And if this happens again, then that’s it. So it’s like they’re playing with fire here. They have to take it seriously because they’re playing with people’s lives,” he said.
Lone incident
In a press conference yesterday, Reyes said the four existing retention ponds served their purpose when it rained heavily last Monday dawn.
Except for the area that did not have a retention pond, no other landslide was reported in other areas of the project site.
“All technical data and measurements have been made for the facilities, and no other areas were affected by a slide. The four other ponds worked very well. But it’s hard to guarantee that we can prevent another landslide because we don’t have control over the rains,” Reyes said.
The five ponds meant an additional P60 million in the development cost of Monterrazas, which covers 200 hectares of land in five barangays in the city.
Landco is now doing road tracing works and paving access roads in 32 hectares of the 200-hectare property.
Aside from requiring subdivision developers to set up water retention facilities, Osmeña said the City Government will soon start building mini-dams in 27 critical areas in the city, mostly in the mountain barangays.
The dams, he said, would control the flow of water to the lowlands to prevent flooding.
Also yesterday, the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC) started inspecting creeks, rivers and other waterways in the city to identify structures that need to be demolished.
Councilor Gerardo Carillo, CCDCC chairman, said even before heavy rains start in June, they want to advise owners of structures in the waterways to leave the danger areas. (LCR)
