FIRE victims occupying the sidwalks near White GoldHouse Restaurant in the North Reclamation Area were transferred to a vacant lot two blocks away.
The sidewalks were cleared after the restaurant owner appealed to City Hall to intervene because the presence of the settlers was driving customers away.
Alvin Santillana, head of the city’s disaster risk reduction management office, said the “clearing” of fire victims started Wednesday night after the management of Robinsons allowed occupancy of their vacant lot nearby.
The lot used to be PUJ terminal behind the burnt White Gold department store building.
“We already cleared the sidewalk. This wasn’t really necessary because the fire victims were only going to stay there for a short period,” said Santillana.
Santillana said his office allowed the 300 families to stay along David Gaisano Street, which is in front of White Gold House, after the July 16 Tejero and Carreta fire because they had nowhere else to go.
About 600 families lost their houses in the fire. Half of them were accommodated at the Carreta gym. The rest stayed on sidewalks.
Restaurant owner Alex Gaisano wrote Mayor Michael Rama on Aug. 25 complaining that the fire victims were turning the area into a slum, discouraging customers from going to White Gold House, a Chinese cuisine restaurant.
Patrons were afraid their vehciles would be vandalizd and building security guards were unable to stop the children from begging in their area. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac