OBO told to ensure the safety of workers in construction sites

With recent reports of accidents inside construction sites, the Cebu City Council now wants a more stringent monitoring of ongoing projects to ensure the safety of workers.

In a privilege speech during the council’s regular session yesterday, Councilor Jerry Guardo said that city hall’s Office of the Building Official (OBO) should be able to adapt to the “construction and real estate boom” happening in the city.

He then issued an appeal to Mayor Tomas Osmeña to prioritize the hiring of personnel for the undermanned Office of the Building Official (OBO).

“We may be a premier city because of this construction and real estate boom, but we cannot afford to sacrifice the lives of our workers because of our inability to foresee the uncertainties like what happened recently,” he said.

Guardo, who heads the committee on infrastructure and urban planning, cited media reports that at least 860 new residential structures and office buildings were scheduled to rise in Cebu City for the year 2016 based on OBO records.

As of December last year, OBO approved 868 new building permits out of 1,272 applications filed in 2015 alone.

OBO chief Josefa Ylanan earlier admitted, in an interview, that OBO lacked personnel to keep up with the number of developments in the city.

This was why Guardo in his resolution, approved by the council yesterday, requested Mayor Osmeña to consider as a priority measure the filling up of vacancies in the OBO so that regular inspections of construction sites can be conducted.

The council also passed a resolution for the OBO to consider using new technologies like drone cameras during site inspections and to review their safety regulations and requirements.

The council also urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) to intensify the monitoring of the contractors’ compliance on the use of personnel protective equipment to guarantee the safety of their workers.

Last week, a 20-year-old worker was killed when a portion of a retaining wall in the construction of Casa Mira Towers in Barangay Labangon caved in.

Immediately after the incident, city officials and even rescue units were barred from entering the site by a guard watching over the construction.

It was found out that the development did not have an excavation permit from OBO.

The city council set an executive session on September 20 inviting the project owner, Cebu Landmasters Inc., its contractor, J.E. Abraham Lee Construction and Development Inc. and the site’s security agency to discuss the incident.

Also earlier, another development was ordered stopped by officials of Barangay Apas when a portion caved in along 2nd St. in Villa Amores.

Guardo recalled that in April 2012, the slope protection wall of Horizons 101 along Mango Ave. also caved in and damaged 10 houses in the area.

“These unfortunate incidents manifested that there are construction sites in the city that need thorough inspection and compliance to the safety and construction regulations and standards as set by the National Building Code,” Guardo said in his speech.

Meanwhile, Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. asked OBO and the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) to submit to the council by September 23 a list of all ongoing projects in the city that do not have building permits and issue cease and desist orders against them.