All complaints and objections raised by court employees over the courthouse’s transfer to Qimonda IT Center were threshed out in a meeting between Cebu City-based judges and building owners yesterday.
“There is a Supreme Court order for us to transfer to Qimonda. We just have to follow it. All we can do is to make sure that court employees and judges won’t be inconvenienced,” Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Soliver Peras said.
Peras also met with judges and court officers to hear their sentiments on the transfer.
Peras said he shouldn’t be misinterpreted as having ordered the transfer of Cebu City courts to the Qimonda building at the North Reclamation Area.
“It was not I who made the decision. I simply relayed to them what the Supreme Court said. Who am I to order the transfer?” he said.
Toilets
Some courts yesterday transported their office furniture on board three military trucks to the first and second floors of the Qimonda IT Center building that was selected by the High Court as the temporary courthouse in Cebu City.
Sanny Tamayo, building administrator of Qimonda IT Center, said the electrical connections in the ground and second floors will be finished next week.
Contrary to complaints, Tamayo said there is ample water supply in Qimonda IT Center and there are enough toilets for court employees and judges.
“In every floor, we actually have seven toilets and four urinals for the male toilets. We also have eight toilet partitions for the female toilets and a toilet for Persons With Disabilities,” he said.
To provide proper ventilation, building officers also planned to expand and open the windows.
Routes
The air-conditioning units will only be used once the courts are set up up at the third and fourth floors.
Court workers will temporarily use the ground and second floors while the courtrooms in the upper floors are being prepared.
Peras said the building was already considered safe by structural engineers who inspected the structure.
Concerning accessibility, Peras said they will coordinate with the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) to redirect jeep routes to pass by Qimonda IT Center for court employees and litigants.
He said they will also ask the permission of the Cebu Ports Authority to impose a speed limit for trucks that pass infront of the Qimonda building.
Guards will also be assigned to control the traffic near the building.
Peras is also looking for food concessionaires within the vicinity of Qimonda.
“Hopefully, by the third week of January 2014, the courts will already be established in Qimonda,” Peras said.
The High Court ordered the transfer after the Palace of Justice building was deemed unsafe after it was damaged by the Oct. 15 earthquake.