Water, Power problems, etc. City dorm residents suffer

CEBU, Philippines - Lack of water and power supply, and a foul smell in the area are among the complaints of the occupants of the Cebu City Hillyland Dormitory located along N. Bacalso Avenue.

Sudlon 1 Barangay Captain Dante Tabucal, who is also the administrator of the dormitory, said city scholars who are occupying the building asked the city government to address the problem in time for the opening of classes.

“Ang complaint gyud ang mga guba nga suga, walay agas nga tubig, baho’g patay nga iring. Kuwang sa maintenance usahay kay wala’y stock sa suga,” he said.

Tabucal said the building is owned by the city government. At least 600 students are housed in the dormitory, each paying at least P350 rent per month. The city government is also giving P1,000 to each of the city scholars for their lodging, on top of the P10,000 scholarship grant per semester.

Yesterday, Danilo Lim of the Office of the Building Official led the inspection of the building to ensure the safety of the students since there are also complaints on the integrity of the building.

Lim said OBO will also send city’s engineers to inspect the integrity of the building since it was also affected during the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in 2013.

Joyce Suqueb, an occupant, said she has stayed in the building for over two years already.

“Naa’y issues like facilities, wala’y water, wala’y electricity ug maka-affect gyud sa among pag-study,” she said.

With this, Tabucal said he will inform acting mayor Margarita Osmeña about the complaints and wait for the recommendation of the OBO.  (FREEMAN)