Wednesday, May 07, 2008 Carvajal: ‘Limited access’ By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
FIRE prevention month has come and gone. Since then, however, we have had some three or four major fires in Metro Cebu. They make you wonder what the celebration of fire prevention month is all about when the same reason is given again and again for firemen’s failure to prevent fires from spreading, namely, “limited access.”
One wonders because this reason has been given for the longest of time. I’ve heard it as early as my high school days in the city and I’ve been hearing it since I came back to Cebu eight years ago. We have been celebrating fire prevention month for some time now. But the fires keep coming and the reason given for their destructiveness remains the same: firefighters have limited access to the fire so it rages longer than is desirable.
So what’s fire prevention month for if authorities are not learning to take away “limited access” from their vocabulary. What is the City Engineer’s office doing about requirements for a building permit? Why are people allowed to build their houses without provision for streets wide enough to be a fire truck’s access road in case of fire? Or don’t we have guidelines on how to qualify for a building permit?
If in fact we do, which is more likely, then the reason for the lack of access roads could be that authorities, for a consideration or for sheer irresponsibility, look the other way when people build houses any which way.
Another scenario could be that if one voted for the party in power or is recommended by a leader of the party in power then he can build his house any which way he wants.
Mayor Tommy Osmeña’s plan to relocate people squatting along creeks and rivers because of the danger of flash floods is a move in the right direction.
Why can’t the city do the same and relocate squatters in limited access areas or at least put some order to the houses in these areas?
I must admit I make it sound so simple when it probably is not. All, I am saying is that “limited access” is repeated ad nauseam every time there is a fire. Is it not time that authorities do something about the problem of access roads? They can start in areas hit by fire by not allowing people to build back on the same spot. Instead, the site could be planned with provisions for access roads and for some order in the houses that will be built.
Squatter areas are prone to fire because of the light materials used in the houses. We cannot do anything about the light materials because the people are poor. But we can at least take the responsibility not to put them in harm’s way by requiring order in the houses and providing easy access to the site. If a fire occurred again it could be controlled faster and damage to life and property is what is limited.
