6/1/2012
Water impounding ponds located below the Monterrazas de Cebu
project in barangay Guadalupe did not overflow despite the rains that started
last week.
But still, this may not yet
be the basis for the lifting of City Hall's cease-and-desist order (CDO) to the
real estate project, said Alvin Santillana, operations officer of the Cebu City
Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.
A CDO was issued on the real
estate development project after massive flooding last year in barangay
Guadalupe and neighboring barangays was attributed to them.
To mitigate flooding impact
of their project, City Hall required them to regularly desilt their water
impounding ponds, install soil erosion and landslide mitigation measures and
improve the project's drainage system.
However, Santillana said
their observations on the impounding ponds alone may not be enough basis to
already lift the CDO issued last year.
"The lifting of the
CDO will depend on our group assessment," said Santillana.
He added that government
offices and agencies whom Mayor Michael Rama tasked to monitor the progress of
their compliance with city and environmental requirements are scheduled to
convene next week to discuss Monterrazas de Cebu's request for the lifting of
the CDO.
Cebu City’s Project
Implementation and Monitoring Office (Primo) chairman Rolando Diola and CPDO
chief engineer Alipio Bacalso wrote Rama early this month and recommended the
lifting of the CDO after Genvi Development Corp., the developer of Monterrazas
de Cebu, has “substantially complied” with the conditions set under the CDO.
Even barangay Guadalupe has
already issued a "favorable recommendation" for the lifting of the
CDO after Genvi put in place flood, landslide and soil erosion prevention
measures, which include the planting of vetiber grasses and placement of
cocomats along the slopes to prevent soil erosion.
Genvi has also installed
diversion ditches and has been desilting their ponds at least twice a month.
They are also continuing to assisted in the rehabilitation of areas affected by
the July 2011 flooding.
Santillana said they last
vi sited the Monterrazas project area on Monday and saw that their siltation
pond especially the one located near the Bethany school did not overflow
despite the rain.
He said the flooding of the
nearby Francisca Village and Horse Shoe Drive was caused by the overflow of the
creek in the area.
"Ang Monterrazaas dili
na siya contributory sa flooding but we will have to further assess the
situation there before we decide on the lifting of their CDO," said
Santillana.
Santillana said that a
meeting is scheduled next week with DENR, city egineering and disaster
officials, Primo, city administrator Poblete and mayor Rama to discuss the
request for the lifting of the CDO against.
Santillana added they are
closely monitoring areas in the city that are high risk to flooding and
landslides especially that the rainy season has started. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters
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