BPO project in Apas stopped after wall collapses

A CEASE and desist order was issued on Monday against a development project after  part of a 20-meter-high perimeter wall collapsed in the site of the old Cebu CIty jail in Salinas Drive,  Cebu City  on Sunday dawn.

At least five houses next to the wall in UCMA village were damaged, said Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman yesterday.

SPO3 Zosimo Nigre, a resident,  reported the unstable condition of the wall around 11 p.m. on Saturday. Barangay officials were able to warn nearby  occupants  before the wall  collapsed at 2 a.m. on Sunday.

No one was hurt but the kitchens, comfort room, and walls of 5 houses were damaged. The houses were owned by SP03 Nigre, Cecille Ansano, Daylinda Enriquez, Jovy Amamio and Dodong Nuñez.

The land is is being developed into a Business Process Outsouring center as a joint venture of the Province of Cebu and Filinvest Land Inc.

The cease-and-desist order was issued by the Office of the Building Official pending investigation.

The contractor is  Megawide Construction Corp.

“The wall was part of the Cebu City jail before. But let me make it clear that it was not part and parcel of the project. It was in fact scheduled for demolition.

Just the same, we will work on it and replace it with a retaining wall with the proper specifications,” said engineer Peter Madera, project manager of Filinvest Land Inc. during an interview yesterday.

He said  pressure  from  outside the wall where the houses are located caused the wall to give in.

“The steel bars used in that existing wall could not cope with the pressure so we cannot keep it and decided to replace it with the proper retaining wall,” he said.

Alvin Santillana, operations officer of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the collapse of the wall could be due to ongoing  excavation for the slope protection of the project.

Santillana  said the construction work can continue as long as the contractor  meets  safety requirements  of the  Office of the Building Official and the City Engineering Office.

These include the temporary relocation of the affected families during the resumption of the project. /Correspondents Jhunnex Napallacan and Edison A. delos Angeles