CCMC upcoming ward. | Dyrecka Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuano businessman, radio commentator, and staunch critic of the Cebu City administration Arturo Barrit is urging the Cebu City Council to conduct an inquiry over the Cebu City Medical Center’s (CCMC) lack of occupancy permit.
Barrit posted on his Facebook page that the CCMC new building was operating without an occupancy permit, an illegal act under the National Building Code.
This was confirmed by the city’s Office of the Building Official (OBO) on September 22, 2021, when Building Official, Architect Florante Catalan, confirmed they have not received a request for an occupancy permit for the CCMC.
“The law is very clear. There is no temporary and partial occupancy permit. Why compromise the law? As a government functionary, they have to follow. Who could you expect the private sector to follow?” said Barrit.
The critic urged the City Council to step in and demand that the executive department serve as examples in following the law, especially for the new CCMC building.
He hopes that with the City Council’s interference, this violation will be corrected.
City Administrator Floro Casas, Jr., already said in a recent statement that the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) is already processing the permit.
The OBO also said that because the DEPW is always deployed in the building, the structure is safe. Catalan said that there is an urgent need to use the building due to the COVID-19 situation in the city.
The second and third floors also remain unoccupied for now as the CCMC administration facilitates the transfer of equipment and patients slowly to the new building.
/bmjo
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