A perspective of what Filinvest’s Il Corso development in SRP, which includes the Il Corso Festival Mall, would look like when completed. (LIBOTERO.COM)
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) issued a work stoppage order on a mall construction project located at the South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City.
“We actually received a complaint letter from one of the workers of the construction project and this prompted us to send a labor laws compliance officer to conduct a compliant visit at the site,” DOLE-7 Regional Director Exequiel R. Sarcauga said in a statement on Wednesday.
The order was issued last Feb. 20 to the project project manager, contractor and, and owner. A mandatory conference with the parties was held on Feb. 21.
Mercado Builders, Inc., the project manager of IL Corso Festival Mall Project, together with RBM Construction, its independent contractor, appeared at the DOLE office on Tuesday for the said meeting.
Stakeholders involved, including Filinvest Land, Inc., the owner of the project, were ordered to “cease and desist from all their exterior operations until such time that imminent danger is rectified.”
The project’s exterior works included cladding, painting, and roofing, among others.
Observations identified by Engineer Rustico Levi Custorio, the Labor Law Compliance Officer who conducted the compliance visit, did not only involve deficiencies under the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS), but also those covered by General Labor Standards (GLS).
“The primary reason why we issued a work stoppage order is the presence of imminent danger observed at the site upon the conduct of the compliance visit. The construction project site only uses monkey ladder and canopy structure, which serves as a scaffold and platform for its exterior works,” said Sarcauga.
Assistant Regional Director, Joel M. Gonzales, who presided the mandatory conference called by the DOLE, said that other deficiencies noted under the OSHS included the following, namely: No DOLE Approved Construction Safety and Health Program (CSHP); No safety officer with Construction Safety Training (CST) Certificate; No DOLE Accredited Safety Practitioner; (4) No first aider; (5) No Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) license; (6) No structural analysis for gondola or monkey ladder; No TESDA Certificate or NCII for heavy equipment’s operators and skilled workers covering electricians, welders, and scaffolders; and No Occupational Health Nurses Association of the Philippines(OHNAP) certified appointed nurse.
Upon inspection, it was also found out that workers had no personal protective equipment (PPE) such as full body harnesses, hard hats, uniform, and safety shoes.
“On the PCAB issue, the deficiency did not only involve Mercado Builders, Inc. and RBM Construction. It also implicated 10 other contractors, which are directly under Filinvest Land, Inc.,” Gonzales added.
The DOLE, he said further, decided to call the attention of Trans-Asia Philippines, Inc., the construction manager of the IL Corso Festival Mall Project, where concerned contractors are said to be directly reporting to.
There are more deficiencies noted under the OSHS apart from the ones highlighted, Gonzales said.
However, he noted that the DOLE is glad that the management representative of Mercado Builders was very positive during the conference and gave assurance that they were going to address deficiencies observed as soon as possible.