Thursday, May 29, 2008
Labangon in hot water
By Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday scolded and warned Labangon barangay officials that construction of their multi-purpose building, which had a groundbreaking he attended yesterday, will be stopped.
That is, if they will not clean and make functional a swimming pool that also serves as a water reservoir for firefighters.
The mayor already cancelled the P1,000 monthly incentive from City Hall to each of the 11 Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) personnel in the fire sub-station by the pool.
The mayor saw the poor upkeep and mosquitoes breeding in the pool and blew his top.
“Daghan man gung nguyo-nguyo, wala’y nag-maintain ba. (He saw it was poorly maintained.) He suspended the implementation of the multi-purpose building construction that the City funded, unless the swimming pool is cleaned up,” said City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, nephew of Barangay Captain Felix Abella.
Abandoned gift
When fire destroyed the old school building of the Labangon Elementary School on April 22, 2003, the City, upon Osmeña’s instruction, decided to build the pool to serve both as a water reservoir and a swimming place of Labangon’s children.
In 2004, the mayor had the pool built for recreation purposes and as a standby source for firetrucks that run out of water while responding to fire alarms.
“The mayor was angry because it was a gift of the City to the children of Labangon, unya gipuy-an lang sa lamok (and all he saw were mosquitoes living there),” Carillo said.
The BFP also set up a sub-station by the pool.
In a separate interview, Cebu City Fire Marshal Esmael Codilla said Osmeña already withdrew the City Hall incentive for his men at the sub-station after receiving a City Disaster Coordinating Council report about the dirty swimming pool.
He said that after the pool’s construction, it was the BFP that maintained the pool, which was hard because the water turns green and murky quickly.
But the barangay, he said, took over and then abandoned the responsibility.
In a telephone interview, Abella admitted the mayor scolded them, but soon simmered down after he explained to him what happened.
“Kon nasuko pa to siya dili na to magpabilin para mo-apil og kaon namo (If he were really angry, he wouldn’t have stayed and eaten with us),” he said, referring to the feast after the groundbreaking.
Abella said the City Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) came up with a program of works and estimates for the swimming pool that lacks a lot of things like a comfort room and piping system so they could drain and replace the water.
The pool was the subject of a Commission on Audit (COA) 2006 report that raised the possible waste of funds, after the pool remained unused since its construction in 2004.
COA told City Hall to have the contractor correct the defect in drainage, so the pool can be used.
That time, City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said there was no defect, as the City also intended the pool as a reservoir so fire trucks could get water from there.
But since the water has to be rid of impurities for swimmers, the City needs to set up an ionization system and water connection. The City set aside P200,000.
Carillo said the pool’s disuse was due to a maintenance problem. He advised the barangay, BFP and the school officials to meet and come up with measures to ensure the pool’s upkeep. (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 29, 2008 issue)
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