Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella has issued a cease-and-desist order to the owner of the controversial property in barangay Apas to stop her from continuing with the development of the hoty-contested property for lack of permit.
Labella said a joint inspection team from the Office of the Building Official (OBO) and the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) saw a bulldozer leveling soil on the property which was recently cleared of informal settlers.
A pile of soil, probably for use as filling materials, was also found in one corner of the lot and has already started to clog the sewers.
“They (lot owners) cannot block the drainage because it will cause flooding in the community when it rains,” Labella told Cebu Daily News in a telephone interview yesterday.
Using the joint inspection report as basis, Labella signed the cease-and-desist order addressed to lot owner, Aletha Suico-Magat.
Magat said in an earlier interview that her family intends to build a modern hospital on lots 942 and 947 which was owned by her grandfather before this was made part of the old Lahug airport.
“It they want to develop, they need to secure a development permit from the city. They cannot just develop on their own,” Labella said.
The city zoning ordinance, he said, requires the issuance of permits from city hall before any development project could start.
“We have to check first if it will affect the drainage system. The neighboring communities should not suffer if the area will be flooded because of the soil from the development work clogging the canals,” said Labella in Cebuano.