Monday, June 02, 2008 Boarding houses up for City's inspection
CEBU City owners will soon need to clean up their act and get their old and dilapidated boarding or lodging houses back into shape.
The City Council approved last Wednesday Councilor Edgardo Labella’s resolution urging the City Health Department and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to inspect all boarding and lodging houses in the city.
It has come to the council’s attention that a lot of old and rundown structures have been operating as low-priced boarding or lodging houses.
The council is worried about the health and safety of the public, amid reports that several of these houses “do not have the proper facilities to ensure the health and safety of the boarders and lodgers.”
The council noted that with the school opening just around the corner, more students are bound to occupy boarding houses and lodging houses across the city.
The council recognized that most cash-strapped students seem to prefer living in the low-priced old buildings and structures. But there is a need to ensure the safety and health of students and others, so the houses will have to be inspected.
All, the council said, must operate in accordance with the sanitary code and the fire prevention code.
Section 12.2 of City Ordinance 676, or the Revised (1970) Sanitary Code of Cebu City, among others, mandates that “any owner of a boarding or lodging house is required to obtain a sanitary permit approved by the City Health Officer or his authorized representative, which shall specify the maximum number of persons allowed to lodge or dwell in said establishment.”
The code also sets that there should be one water closet or approved latrine and one bathroom for every 15 persons living in the house.
City Ordinance 623, or the Fire Prevention Code, orders that an exterior stairway, which may be used as a fire escape, must be installed in wooden apartment houses or any building not more than three stories high. (EPB)
