Elevators inside SM City Cebu cannot be used by the public.
The Office of the Building Official (OBO) of the Cebu City government formally served a notice to the management of the mall suspending the operation of all their elevators for lack of permits to operate them.
SM has not yet complied with all the requirements for the renewal of their permits to operate their elevators, which expired last June 8, 2017.
“Giving paramount consideration to public safety, by virtue of the authority vested upon this office, you are hereby directed to suspend all elevator operations in your establishment until the permits to operate the same are issued by this office,” read the notice which was signed by Building Official Engr. Josefa Ylanan.
The notice was addressed to SM City Cebu Mall manager Engr. Van Aberia, who received it yesterday morning.
Sought for comment, the management of the mall confirmed having received the notice from OBO and said they are complying with the requirements asked by the office.
“We are cooperating with OBO to fulfill all the requirements to get all our elevator services back to normal operations,” the mall’s management said in an official statement sent to Cebu Daily News.
“In the meantime, we have augmented our resources in order to assist all our customers, tenants and service providers in gaining access anywhere inside the mall. We will continue to ensure the convenience and safety for all our shoppers and partners,” they added.
In her notice, Ylanan pointed out that last week, City Hall received complaints from some elevator passengers who were inside one of the mall’s elevators last June 6, when it fell from the third floor to the upper ground floor.
Although no one was reported injured, some of these customers complained about the incident.
Two days after the incident, or on June 8, the mall’s permits to operate for their elevators expired.
Ylanan said OBO sent a Notice of Violation to SM last June 13 regarding the expiry of their permits but until now, she said, the mall has failed to submit the complete requirements for the renewal of their permits.
Among the requirements that SM has not submitted is a certification from the manufacturer of their elevators, which is Hyundai, that it is indeed their product.
Ylanan assured though that once SM complies with all the requirements, they can resume operating their elevators.
“(After complying), they will be asked to pay the renewal fee. We will allow them to operate again because those are just their lacking documents,” she said in a phone interview yesterday.
In the meantime, she assured that OBO will be monitoring SM City Cebu’s compliance of their notice to suspend their elevator operations.
If they are found violating the notice of suspension, Ylanan said they will refer the matter to the City Legal Office for appropriate action.