Monday, August 18, 2008 Firms ask City to solve row By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
NEW Asiatown IT Park establishments want to know which barangay they should get permits from.
They are confused, said Clavel Tongco, Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp. (CPVDC) retail business group head.
“May we request for a formal statement for the Cebu City Government as to which barangay has territorial jurisdiction over The Walk,” she said in an Aug. 8 letter to Vice Mayor Michael Rama.
The Walk, Tongco said, is a 2,500-square-meter retail development facility housing “19 shopping stores, bars, and restaurants.”
Barangays Lahug and Apas are both claiming that the Asiatown IT Park is within their territories and sent communications requiring the establishments to secure permits from them.
Barangay Lahug has said the boundary between the two barangays is the Central Command gate and runs a straight path up to the Archbishop Reyes Ave.
Barangay Apas, meanwhile, has said the actual demarcation is Salinas Drive, so that establishments on the Apas side should get their permits from its barangay hall, while those on the other side should get theirs from Barangay Lahug.
The conflicting claims created the problem as to where a particular establishment should get the permit after receiving a reminder from each barangay.
“There is currently confusion amongst our merchants as to which barangay has jurisdiction over The Walk for purposes of securing barangay clearance for their business permits,” Tongco said.
In its session last week, however, the City Council did not make the “formal statement” and instead referred her query to the City Zoning Board.
The body also instructed the Cebu City Council secretary to inform Tongco of the referral.
Aside from Barangay Apas, Barangay Lahug is also locked in a boundary conflict with Barangay Luz.
Officials of both barangays are scheduled to meet tomorrow afternoon for a possible amicable settlement through the mediation of the City Council’s committee of three.
Both Barangays Luz and Lahug claim that the block where the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino and the Grand Convention Center stands is within their territory.
Barangay Lahug said Archbishop Reyes Ave. is the boundary, while Luz argued the area used to be part of Sitio Wakwak and that it is the one giving service, like garbage collection and maintenance of peace and order, to the establishments there. (RHM)
