The 30-meter riprap of Villa Sebastiana in Mandaue City which collapsed last Sept. 13 during a heavy rain, killing a boy, was found to be “weak”.
It was inadequate to hold limestone being quarried as filling materials, geologist Dennis Gerald Aleta of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional office said.
“Failure of the riprap structure. The riprap should have been able to contain the debris of bulldozed limestone,” Aleta said after a site inspection.
There’s another complication for the Cortes-owned AIDFAZ Development Corp. which bulldozed much of a one-hectare area in barangay Tawason for Villa Sebastiana as its first project.
The firm failed to comply with four conditions of its environmental clearance certificate (ECC), the Environment Management Bureau said.
This includes failure to implement “mitigating measures” stated in its Envrionmental Impact Management Plan, and lack of a billboard identifying the project and its ECC number.
For each violation, a fine of P25,000 to P50,000 is at stake.
A technical conference is set next week at the EMB office to give the he developer and contractor a chance to explain their side, said EMB Regional Director William Cuñado.
Meanwhile, Aleta of the MGB said specialists noticed “tension” in the geological site during inspection.
This means that the remaining limestone in the project site would likely move anytime due to its softness from continuous heavy rains and rainwater that seeped into the ground.
Aleta said residents nearby, especially those living to the east of the project site, should stay away.
The eastern part has an “active slope,” he said.
Part of a riprap in a portion of the project site collapsed on Sept. 13, burying 14-year-old Vicente Cariquitan Jr. and injuring his older brother Vladimir.
AIDFAZ is a company headed by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes’ sister Teresa Cortes-Vasquez.
Cunado of the EMB said the company failed to comply with ECC conditions no. 2, 3, 6 and 12.
Condition 2 requires the developer to implement mitigating measures as stated in the Environmental Impact and Management Plan (EIMP).
Under Condition 3, the applicant has to produce 3,500 seedlings in support of the Green Philippines Master Plan to be used for tree planting activities
The developer failed to submit an updated project environmental risk categorization (Condition 6), had no 2×4 billboard containing the name of the project, proponent and ECC number issued by the bureau.
The ECC-R07-1407-0119 was issued to AIDFAZ president Teresa Cortes-Vasquez on July 15, 2014.
Villa Sebastiana, named after the mayor’s grandmother, has a total land area of 13,758 square meters.
It will offer 118 residential lots when completed, including a road system of 4,403.10 square meters, open spaces of 550.50 square meters and a solid waste management facility.
Cuñado clarified that the company was able to submit its Engineering Geological and Geohazard Assessment Report (EGGAR), which identified the project site as good for housing.
Al Emil Birador, OIC-chief geologist of MGB-7, said the contractor should have planned the site development first.
“Double check the design. The design should be able to hold the filling materials. You should compute the volume of materials stored there, and outside factors such as rain. If it raids, you can compact the ground so it won’t subside,” he said.
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