DOLE stops work at IT Park building

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday ordered DCD Construction to stop work on the building for the expansion project of Aegis People Support at the AsiaTown IT Park after a portion of the building collapsed on Saturday.

In an interview with radio dyAB, DOLE Central Visayas director Elias Cayanong said the order would stay until the contractor has corrected all the safety lapses which the DOLE inspector had found.

“Unless certain safety measures are adopted, work will not be allowed to resume,” he said.

Two workers were hurt when the floor on the fourth level of the building collapsed while cement was being poured into it.

Cayanong said DOLE would also look into reports that DCD workers were underpaid.

“I hope that this time workers would already cooperate so that the complaint against the company would stand and sanctions can be imposed,” he said.

Cayanong said they failed to substantiate the complaint because no one from among the workers came out to corroborate said reports.

Cayanong said DOLE inspectors, who went to construction site on Saturday night, noted the contractor’s “failure to ensure the safety of their workers”.

Since this was a common occurrence in construction sites, he said he would convene members of the contractors association to a meeting to discuss the matter.

Cayanong said that investigation on the integrity of the construction project would be up to the Office of the Building Official (OBO) to look into.

After being postponed several times, the meeting with DCD Construction and members of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council and OBO finally pushed through at the office City Councilor Gerardo Carillo.

DCD presented pictures to support their claim that what happened was an accident.

“They can already proceed with their construction works after they clear the mess created by the scattered cement when the floor support gave in. And they must request the city engineer to check the supports before pouring cement,” OBO chief Engr. Josefa Ylanan said.

Ylanan said they asked Carillo to pass a resolution to gather all the contractors to discuss security measures to avoid similar incidents.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has recommended that the height of the firewall of the Gasiano Capital building in barangay Tisa be reduced after the report of the Office of the Building Official was handed to him yesterday.

The recommendation wase made after more than three weeks of waiting for the results of the investigation results into the collapse of the firewall which killed five construction workers.

“They just have to reduce the height of the wall. The wall caused all the problems.” Osmeña said.

Osmeña did not mention of filing a case against CYC Construction, the building contractor.

“Somebody else has to do that. I don’t understand it enough to file a case. That’s a technical thing and frankly speaking I don’t think we have the technical know-how because there are two disciplines involved in this. The legal and the engineering,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña said the construction of the building could continue.

“I am just finishing some paper works so that they could continue the construction works,” he said.

Osmeña said that starting today, contractors who will be involved in such kind of accidents would be sanctioned with a six- month suspension of their business permit.

“That’s to give the contractors a warning if they are not being careful with their projects. That’s a general warning so that they will be extra careful,” said Osmena. –Doris C. Bongcac, Cebu Daily News WITH EDISON DELOS ANGELES