‘Soil still moving, cracks forming in sinkhole area’

SOIL continued to move and more cracks   formed around the sinkhole in a Dumanjug town farm when  Cebu Daily News visited the site  yesterday.

Farm caretaker Walter Pesalbon, 36, said  that as of 3 p.m. part of the edge of the pit caved in.

The sinkhole was discovered last Friday in  part of the 2.6-hectare Dumanjug farm.

Pesalbon said nothing like this  happened before in the seven decades that his family owned  the property,   which was   bought in 2006 by the daughter of Susana Inot, who married a Swedish national. Pesalbon’s family remains the caretaker of the farm.

Inot yesterday visited the farm, took pictures of the sinkhole and sent them to her daughter, who is in Sweden with her husband.

The sinkhole occured weeks after the Feb. 6 earthquake that hit Negros Oriental and Cebu. Dumanjug town in southwest  Cebu is situated across Negros Oriental province.

Pesalbo said  he noticed cracks in the ground before the sinkhole appeared, which he  estimated to be 100 meters deep and 20 meters wide.

Pesalbo said the farm used to be a wide tract of land with coconut trees. The new owner transformed it into a farm with eggplants, mangoes and papayas.

The formation of the sinkhole in the area has attracted curious townsfolk, who take photos of the ununusual sight.

Police set up a  yellow cordon near the sinkhole and posted two policemen and barangay tanods to take turns for a 24-hour watch.