THE more than 400 inmates of the new City of Naga Jail were ordered to evacuate as tropical depression Samuel approaches.
The facility is located near a landslide-affected area.
But instead of preparing to move out, they’re staying put.
According to Senior Insp. Cristano Alpon, the jail warden, the inmates have nowhere else to go.
The City Government had recommended temporarily moving them to the Cebu City Jail’s female dorm after tension cracks were found on the slope near the facility. But that won’t happen until the end of the month, while the City conducts slope stabilization activities in the area.
Alpon said he has instructed his personnel and the inmates to conduct precautionary measures inside the jail in case the storm worsens.
He said an evacuation plan is in place in case of an emergency.
“We will have to be extremely vigilant and to be alert at all times,” Alpon said.
Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong said she was aware of the evacuation order but the inmates could not be immediately moved.
“We have to understand that we are constrained. We cannot just transfer them immediately as we also need to consider the security threat that they pose,” Chiong told SunStar Cebu yesterday.
Meanwhile, the City Government is preparing for tropical depression Samuel’s onslaught, considering it has yet to recover from the landslide that struck Sitio Sindulan in Barangay Tina-an last Sept. 20.
City Councilor Carmelino Cruz, who heads the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said they are monitoring the situation in barangays that were identified by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as highly prone to landslides.
Aside from Tina-an, these are Barangays Inoburan, Mainit, Cabungahan and Naalad.
Cruz said they will conduct patrols in these barangays to inform residents they need to leave.
They’ve instructed families staying in evacuation centers not to return to their homes until tropical depression Samuel leaves the country.
Cruz said they also instructed local police to conduct patrols in the affected barangays to ensure everyone has left.