Private hauler starts backfilling excavation site of scrapped 20-story Capitol resource center

The project site of the P1.3 billion Cebu Provincial Resource Center in Cebu Capitol is left with meters deep excavation the project was ordered stopped on July 1. (CDN Digital Photo/Rosalie Abatayo)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A group of private haulers has started to backfill the several meters-deep excavation site of the scrapped Cebu Provincial Resource Center project at the Cebu Capitol grounds.

Lawyer Frank Eduard Dinsay, chief of staff of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, revealed on Thursday, August 15,  that at least thirty trucks of soil have been dumped inside the project site since Wednesday, August 14.

The Visayas Truckers Equipment and Quarry Operators Services Cooperative has volunteered to backfill the property for free, using the soil that it has excavated from its various projects in Cebu, Dinsay said.

The soil dumped so far at the site was barely two percent of what was needed to completely cover the hole because based on the estimate of the Provincial Engineering Office, it would need at least 18,000 cubic meters of soil to backfill the property and restore it to ground level.

In a separate interview, Provincial Legal Consultant Marino Martinquilla said each dump truck was estimated to carry about 10 cu.m. of soil. This means a total of about 1,800 trucks of soil are needed to completely cover the excavated site.

Mantinquilla also said that Garcia wanted to complete the backfilling as soon as possible in the wake of the recent construction safety issues in Cebu City.

Read more: Part of building collapses in Kamputhaw, Cebu City

Last August 5, a portion of a four-story building in Barangay Kamputhaw collapsed when the nearby excavation for a condominium project caved in and damaged the adjoining property. The affected building used to house the Social Security System office.

The excavated area at the Capitol grounds was intended for the foundation works of the now mothballed 20-story resource center building.

Read more: Garcia orders permanent halt of resource center construction

Garcia ordered the immediate and permanent stoppage of the project when she assumed office as governor on July 1. The project was initiated by her predecessor, then governor and now Vice Governor Hilario Davide III.

Garcia has asked the project contractor, WT Construction Inc., to backfill the property and restore it to ground level. Garcia gave WT a 48-hour ultimatum to start backfilling the property on July 16 but the contractor did not heed the ultimatum.

Read more: WTCI ignores Gwen’s 48-hour ultimatum