BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved a resolution requesting the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) to investigate all the structures along Lower Rock Quarry, especially those built near the proposed sewerage treatment plant, to ascertain that the structures are safe for occupancy to ensure the safety of life and limb during natural and man-made emergencies.
The resolution authored by Councilor Maria Mylen Victoria G. Yaranon stated there were numerous structures erected near the proposed sewerage treatment plant at Lower Rock Quarry barangay that were not reportedly certified to be safe for occupancy by a licensed structural engineer as some of the said structures do not have the required building and occupancy permits.
She pointed out the proposed sewerage treatment plant is located near the well-known City Camp Lagoon, a flood-prone area during the rainy season that affects the residents of Lower Rock Quarry and adjacent barangays forcing them to evacuate to higher grounds when flooding occurs.
The resolution explained when water seeps in soil, it becomes loose and makes it vulnerable to soil erosion or it is easily flushed by running water thereby resulting to problems of the people residing in the said place and its surrounding areas.
According to her, a weak or substandard structure built within geologically hazardous areas may result to loss of life and inflict significant damage to property during calamities.
To protect lives and properties from being lost because of natural or man-made disasters, Yaranon asserted it is highly recommended that all buildings and houses built be structurally safe for occupancy especially in identified geologically hazardous areas in the different parts of the city wherein Lower Rock quarry was identified as one of the said critical areas.
Yaranon emphasized the site of the multi-million sewerage treatment plant must be spared from illegal structures to prevent future problems that may compromise the safety of life and limb considering that the put up of the plant will definitely contribute in the reduction of the volume of human and liquid waste from being illegally discharged into the various water systems of the city.
She raised an observation that most of the erected structures in the area are not allegedly structurally sound, thus, the need for experts to study the structural integrity of the houses and buildings were built in the area for the owners to institute the appropriate remedial measures to make their building withstand the onslaught of natural and man-made calamities.
She underscored the results of the structural integrity of structures erected within the Lower Rock Quarry area should be a wakeup call for concerned departments in the city to monitor the structural integrity of the houses and buildings built over geologically hazardous areas in the different parts of the city.
By Dexter A. See