Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Developer to lose permit if DENR revokes its ECC
LANDCO Pacific Corp.’s development permit will be automatically canceled if the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) decides to revoke the firm’s environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said yesterday that DENR’s findings will be a major consideration when the City comes up with recommendations on the landslide in Sitio Dakit, Barangay Guadalupe.
The City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) and Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) have consolidated their reports on the incident so they could submit it to DENR.
Experts
“If DENR’s findings is towards the cancellation of the ECC, then we will consider that very strongly because their people are experts on this matter. And if they revoke the ECC, then it goes without saying that we will also revoke Landco’s development permit,” Rama said.
The ECC is a requirement for the issuance of a development permit by City Hall.
Landco’s development permit for their project in Guadalupe, the upscale Monterrazas de Cebu, was suspended last April following the landslide in Sitio Dakit.
The suspension remained in effect after another landslide occurred last Tuesday. This prompted city officials to evacuate the affected families.
Landco officials were also asked to attend the City Council session tomorrow to explain what they have done to prevent the flooding.
City Planning and Development Coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete said the development permit is automatically considered void if Landco’s ECC is canceled.
“The problems should have been pointed out earlier in terms of how they performed as a developer. It should have been indicated in the ECC, which describes what should have been done so the development will not harm the environment,” he said.
The joint inspection team from the CPDO and the DEPW recommended that Landco’s development permit should remain suspended until they can implement flood mitigation measures and assure that their development project will not affect residents in low-lying areas.
They also recommended that a more comprehensive study be done at the development site to find out what flood and landslide mitigation measures are needed.
Clark Cebrian, the geological consultant of Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. and owner of GeoKonsult, was tapped by the City for the study.
In an interview yesterday, Cebrian said he already visited the site last Sunday but said that he would give details on his findings only after his study is completed. (LCR)
