Capitol, Pinamangajan mayor surprised by DENR order on tree-cutting

Cebu Provincial Engineer Hector Jamora expressed surprise at the stoppage order for the cutting of trees issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for a district hospital in Pinamungajan.

He said his staff told him they hospital had secured the necessary permits.

“The chief of hospital would have informed me. Before the stoppage order was issued, we had already started with the project. I reminded my staff not to start unless the trees in the area were cleared,” he said.

Gov. Hilario Davide III declined to comment about the violation and referred the matter to the provincial engineer.

Pinamungahan Mayor Baricuatro said he too was unaware of the stoppage order until Cebu Daily News asked about it.

The DENR said no special tree cutting permit was issued by their office for the  Dr. Jose Maria Borromeo district hospital in Pinamungajan.

At least 65 Gmelina and mahogany trees were already cut down when the cease and desist order was issued last Monday.

Since the project is a tie-up between the province and DOH, the Pinamungahan mayor said the town has no hand in it.

Bobby Lim, chief of the construction division, said he spoke with Dr. Feleus Bascon, hospital chief, who assured him that the documents were in order.

Jamora clarified that he had not seen the documents himself.

Clearing
Cebu Daily News tried to contact Bascon but was unable to reach him for this report.

Several calls made to his phone were left unanswered.

Jamora said construction was still ongoing yesterday for the new Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care unit funded by the Department of Health.

He said the clearing of the trees in the area was completed and so he doesn’t see the point of the stoppage order.

“But if we didn’t have the papers and we were ordered to stop, we would really stop,” he said.

Jamora admitted that there may have been a lapse in acquiring a permit to transport the chopped trees.

A team of DENR foresters that inspected the site observed that 2,095 board feet of flitches were taken out of the hospital premises and transported to nearby barangay Bato.

A team from the Provincial Engineering Office was sent to check on the status of the construction.

The province-run district hospital sits on a 0.03-hectare property donated to the Cebu provincial government by the Borromeo clan several years ago.

Mayor Baricuatro said he hopes that whatever issue has cropped up concerning the project will be ironed out immediately.

“The expansion of the hospital will serve and benefit the people of Pinamungajan,” he said.

Baricuatro said he was informed of the project two weeks ago.

He said he presumed that all requirements were met before work on the project began.

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DENR stops tree cutting in Pinamungajan hospital