Wednesday, November 05, 2008 Artica as a crematorium?
IT MAY not have any coliseum fit for a decent major event, but Davao City may just end up with the biggest crematorium in the Philippines, if not the world.
That is if Davao City Administrator Wendel E. Avisado's comment in last Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao is to be taken seriously when asked whether the city is still willing to make use of the mothballed Artica Sports Dome in a lot donated by the Uys to the city.
"Pwede man siguro na crematorium kay kung mahugno nang dome patay naman daan ang naa dinha sulod so okay lang siguro (Maybe the Artica Dome can be completed and made into a crematorium since there will be dead people there and should it collapse, then there will be no one there but the dead)," Avisado said in his usual sarcastic but funny manner.
Avisado said the unfinished, controversial and multi-million Artica Dome just might be turned into a crematorium if the City Government finds merit in such a project.
The Artica Dome was constructed using a loan by the City Government during the term of Benjamin C. de Guzman as mayor. Being a loan, the amount is still being paid today, even though the project has long been mothballed.
Avisado said that since the structure was declared by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as unfit to be used as a multi-purpose coliseum, then it may be used "for other purposes" that's less dangerous to the public. And since there has been a recognized need for a crematorium, Artica might just fit the bill.
The controversial project was started by former mayor Benjamin de Guzman who used to be Duterte's ally. When Duterte assumed the post of mayor in 2001, he immediately ordered a halt on the construction of Artica for safety reasons and tagged the dome as de Guzman's "monument of corruption."
The previous administration under Mayor Benjamin de Guzman took out a loan of P300 million from the Land Bank of the Philippines, but Avisado said only P150 million was used by the Davao City government. He said payment of the loan has almost been completed.
The dome, however, sits on a fault line which may not make it conducive to such a structure. The construction itself was deemed to be substandard. Thus, the decision not to push through with the project was made as soon as Duterte took over the City Hall.
Meanwhile, Avisado said the utilization of the Artica Dome would need a technical study and they need to go back to the terms and conditions of the deed of donation of the land.
Governor Arthur Uy of Compostela Valley Province said as per his talk with his brother who donated the lot where the Artica Dome was constructed, he said Mayor Rey Uy is willing to extend the terms.
As stipulated in the agreement, the donor has the right to get the property back if after two years the property has not been put to good use.
The Artica Dome, up to this time has not been used because based on the findings of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the structure is within a fault line.
MGB-Southern Mindanao head Engineer Edilberto Arreza said the area can still be used provided that they address the hazard.
He said they required the Davao City government to apply for an Environmental Clearance Certificate but the City Government, at that time, refused to comply.
Avisado said Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has reasons as to why the city does not want to push through with it.
"Maybe for the time being, it will not show pero mamiligro ang kinabuhi sa tao (but we will be putting people's lives at risk)," he said. (BOT/With reports from Prix Banzon)
