SunTrust permit recall looms over Mines View road collapse

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY  – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ordered the city engineering office and the city buildings and architecture office to monitor compliance of SunTrust Properties Inc. to permits issued by the local government for its ongoing condominium project along Gibraltar and make recommendations on status of permits.

The mayor said the developer should not put the blame on other agencies for the collapse of almost half of the road within its construction site because there might have been lapses on how it complied with the issued permits.

“We will not hesitate to cancel the permits issued by the city to SunTrust once it fails to implement the appropriate mitigating measures on the collapsed road and its own riprap project. We should not point fingers at this time but the developer must start working on remedial measures to restore the road or face the consequence of its permit being revoked until such time that it complies with whatever conditions that will be imposed on it,” Domogan said.

He said putting the blame on the drainage project of the Department of Public works and Highways–Baguio City District Engineering Office as the culprit for the collapsed portion of the road seems as it should have taken the necessary steps to protect the collapse of the drainage and the road and not to have waited for the situation to worsen.

According to him, the developer should first restore its damaged riprap project to allow the installation of the appropriate drainage system within the area before the replacement for the destroyed pavement can be made.

Domogan directed CEO and CBAO personnel to closely monitor measures being taken by the developer and to submit a report to him to assess if there is a need to cancel the permits issued to the company or await whatever completed works that will be done before evaluating and assessing the situation of the place.

He claimed the company should be mindful of the importance of completing the repair and rehabilitation of the damaged road because it is the only access for the residents of Gibraltar and Mines View to their homes and to their workplaces, schools among others, as the total closure of the road will create a chaotic situation.

He urged company, representatives of concerned government agencies and several offices of the local government to get their acts together in finding the appropriate solution to the immediate restoration of the damaged portions of the road and the private property to prevent the situation from worsening.