Concrete bldgs Struck by Ermita Fire included in Clearing Operations

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants that all concrete structures gutted by fire that struck in Sitio Bato in Barangay Ermita last week will not be spared in the clearing operation conducted by City Hall personnel to ensure public safety.

The mayor issued the statement after he learned that some of the owners of big concrete houses have already started renovating their houses despite of warnings from the City Hall officials.

“Basta makaagi na gani og sunog ang semento kuyaw na kaayo na kay wala na g’yud na’y lig-on og makahatag lang og peligro,” Rama said.

Raquel Arce, head of the City Hall’s Prevention Restoration Order and Beautification Enhancement (Probe), said she already told the fire victims not to renovate their structures because these will be cleared by the city.

Despite there was no work for government workers yesterday, but Arce and the members of the City Hall’s clearing personnel completed their unfinished work last Friday.

The clearing operations of the debris will resume today and Arce said they will try their best to include all structures gutted by fire to avoid speculations that they are bias in implementing the mayor’s order.

Most of the fire victims challenged the City Hall clearing personnel to clear all structures without fear of who owned them for the sake of fairness.

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete earlier explained that once the clearing operation will be completed, the technical personnel of City Hall will come in to reblock the area by putting up of road spaces and alleys.

Poblete said the reblocking will give advantage to the majority of fire victims because the area would be equally devided to all of those owners of houses that were affected by the fire.

Rama believed that after the reblocking of Sitio Bato, the area would become beautiful place to live and this time he will ask the barangay officials to ensure that nobody will abuse by expanding their houses into the public road.

More than 100 houses were razed by fire that broke out in Sitio Bato on Saturday last week that claimed the life of a child. A woman also died of heart attack while seeing her house eaten up by the fire.

Fire trucks failed to enter into the interior portion of Sitio Batobecause the owners of houses at the entrance of the road installed roof extention or concrete terrace that prevents the entry of fire trucks.