PORTIONS of eight private structures that encroached on J. Urgello St. in Barangay Sambag 1, Cebu City were demolished on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023.
Also set for demolition are the parts of 32 other private structures in Sambag 1 that encroached on the road.
The clearing operations are part of the Cebu City Government’s road recovery program aimed to clear illegal structures encroaching on public roads and help improve the city’s traffic flow.
The owners of the eight structures from Barangay Sambag 1 did not show resistance when the clearing operation was initiated, said Councilor Jerry Guardo.
Guardo, who chairs the City Council’s committee on infrastructure, said around 40 private structures situated along the 300-meter stretch of road on J. Urgello St. in Sambag 1 and 20 structures along Ranudo St. in Cogon Ramos are set for demolition.
Guardo told SunStar Cebu on Wednesday, Feb. 15, that these privately owned structures have already occupied almost half of the road’s original width. He said that on J. Urgello St., the original size of the road was supposed to be eight to nine meters, but because residents have encroached on the road, the current width is now only 4.5 meters.
Some of the illegal structures built are extensions of parking garage while some buildings were even used for business purposes and the occupants are not paying the City, said Guardo.
According to Guardo, the residents did not show resistance since they were already informed of the operations last year through a series of public hearings and consultations. He urged structure owners to review their land titles and determine if their property has encroached on the road.
Once all structures will be cleared, a road concreting project will then push through to further improve the status of the street.
Guardo said the road concreting project aims to improve movement in the two roads especially that they are part of modernized public utility vehicles’ routes.
Guardo further said that a meeting will be conducted on Thursday, Feb. 16, to discuss another clearing operations on Quijada St. in Barangay Guadalupe.
The councilor added that there is an urgent need to improve Quijada St. since the City Government is anticipating the economic development in the area such as the ongoing construction of condominium units.
Guardo said the City Planning and Development Office has provided him documents containing the road networks of the city which is now being verified by the Land Management Bureau and the City Assessor’s Office. (IRT)