EDITORIAL - Safety measures

Inadequate soil protection has been largely blamed by the authorities as the cause of the collapse of a portion of a commercial building at the corner of Gorordo Avenue and Escario Street in Cebu City Monday dawn.

Cebu City Hall’s Office of the Building Official (OBO), in its initial investigation, said the firm conducting soil excavation for a condominium project allegedly failed to comply with the requirements on soil protection, leading to the weakening and softening of the ground.

As the OBO suspended any operations at the site, the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is also looking into the matter, checking any possible lapses by the project contractor.

City legal officer Rey Gealon said the cease and desist order issued by the city was just an emergency measure. “In any case, the general welfare clause requires that the public safety be promoted through the cessation of dangerous construction works except only construction for the purpose of erecting a protective wall to prevent further collapse of the Juanita Building,” he said.

Last Monday’s incident was just the latest in several accidents involving private construction projects around the city. Some of these accidents – which revolved around the lack of safety measures – have even cost many lives.

In the first place, it’s really the one who is undertaking the project that should be held liable for any accident. The fact that an accident occurred must have something to do with the lack of safety measures being put in place.

But the blame should not just stop with the project contractor and developer. The local government should also be held responsible for any accident in the construction site due to the fact that it has never been strict in enforcing the law.

The problem is that there has never been an aggressive monitoring of constructions projects sprouting around the city. This enables accidents to occur because some firms failed to religiously follow the safety requirements.