Rama backs speedy permit process

IF possible, processing building permits should be done in one day in order to expedite the approval of projects, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said yesterday.

The mayor said this even as he supported the City Council’s proposal to amend the 1996 zoning ordinance. The council said no projects should be started without a building permit.

“The review of the ordinance is long overdue. Even the National Building Code has to be amended,” the mayor said.

At the same time, Rama said the lack of qualified personnel shouldn’t be an excuse to delay the processing of permits.

Josefa Ylanan, the city’s building official, said the building code allows their office to process building permit applications within a period of 15 days.

But she said some contractors would rather opt to proceed with their construction project shortly after they submit their application for a building permit with their fines and pay any resulting fines for violations of the code.

Ylanan said she opted to impose fines provided for in the building code which were bigger as compared to the P500 to P1, 000 fine provided for in the city zoning ordinance.

The amendments were proposed in the wake of the ongoing developments for high rise buildings in Cebu City.

Two accidents involving the collapse of a wall and fence occured in Cebu City in separate incidents since last month.

The latest incident involved the collapse of the riprap fence of Casa del Rio Subdivision in barangay Talamban, Cebu City that caused the death of two persons and six others living in a nearby community of shanties along a river. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac