Gaisano South clearing contractor can't meet deadline

CEBU, Philippines - Gaisano Capital South’s contractor cannot guarantee that they can remove the perimeter fence installed along Leon Kilat and Colon Streets in time for the opening of classes of college students next week.

Talisay City Councilor Valeriano Ylanan, the contractor hired by Gaisano Capital to demolish the structure, told The FREEMAN that they cannot meet the weekend deadline to finish the demolition of the mall as there are several factors to be considered.

“Dili gyud makaya ang deadline, dili mahimo mag-24-hours ang trabaho kay ang safety man pud sa mga workers ang atong gitan-aw. (We cannot meet the deadline. We also cannot work on it for 24 hours because we are also looking at the safety of our workers),” Ylanan said as he informed Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama during their meeting at the City Hall.

The City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) earlier requested that the perimeter fence be removed because they foresee serious traffic congestion once universities resume classes on Monday.

CITOM identified four schools that will be affected if the road obstruction is not removed. These include the University of Cebu, University of San Jose Recoletos, University of the Visayas and Asian College of Technology.

Ylanan said the mayor gave him until May 31 to finish the demolition of the structure but he pointed out to Rama that he has a contract with the Gaisano South Capital to finish the demolition within five months.

The contract between Ylanan and Gaisano South Capital is supposed to end on June 26 but it has to be deducted with the number of days when the city experienced heavy rains and earthquakes.

Ylanan said he already informed the mayor that they will finish the demolition before August 6.

He said several factors were considered including the difficulty to complete the demolition because of the wirings from utilities like VECO and the PLDT.

“It has to be removed. Dili man sab kami ang mo-tang-tang niana kun dili ang VECO ug PLDT. (We are not the ones who are supposed to remove them but VECO and PLDT),” he said.

Also, there were walls from the burnt mall that was attached to the buildings of the University of Cebu and the Hundred Islands mall.

“We are trying our best to do as much as we can to finish everything,” Ylanan added.

The Gaisano Capital South was destroyed by fire last December 22. Last January, the Bureau of Fire in Cebu City declared the structure unsafe. — (FREEMAN)