Tom’s answer to building safety woes: ‘Build twin towers’

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has backtracked on his plan to ban construction of high-rise buildings that do not meet safety standards but has presented an alternate proposal.

Under his new scheme, buildings that are more than four stories should have a twin tower that is fire-equipped and fire-proofed.

He said the two buildings should be one meter apart and should be kept safe by the presence of a fire wall.

According to the mayor, every floor of the buildings should likewise have a common hallway where people can pass through during emergencies.

“On top of the fire wall, there’s a water pipe, which is facing the other building, will spray water on the other building. And the other building will have a pipe and will spray water on the other building. That’s to keep the wall safe from collapsing, overheating, or burning,” he said.

Explaining the plan, Osmeña said the city needs to impose more stringent rules to curb the incidence of fire and other disasters in tall buildings.

“If it’s less than four stories, there would be no special requirements. If it’s more than four stories and if your building is not under construction yet, it will have to be twin towers,” he said.

To ensure continuous spraying of water, he said there should be a gutter on the ground between the two walls where water is being recycled to pop up.

“That’s an invention of Tomas Osmeña. I just want to address the safety of the people. That’s why we’ll have public hearing. Challenge this idea whether it’s technically feasible. To me, it is. It is technically feasible,” the mayor added.

Osmeña is expected to endorse the plan to the City Council this month so the latter can draft the necessary measure.

“Hopefully, before the end of this month, I will make an endorsement to the council on the policy direction as far as high-rise buildings are concerned,” he told reporters.

Osmeña, however, clarified that the new policy will only apply to developments on that planning stage yet, since the city cannot change the rules for those that have started already.

The mayor said he will also float the idea to the City’s Department of Engineering and Public Works, saying it is his policy direction.

As for the concern on parking spaces, Osmeña said the city government will tighten parking requirements because the absence of parking is creating traffic congestions in the city.

This is because some cars, Osmeña said, are illegally parked on sidewalks and roads.

“One of the changes that I will try to implement is that the height of the parking slot must be 4.3 meters. Right now, it is 3.8 meters, something like that,” he said.

Osmeña said there’s a device that can be bought that can lift up a car, and then another car can be parked underneath.

He said parking lot owners will not be required to buy the device, which costs P400,000. However, their parking spaces should be ready for it.

“I have a feeling people will rent or buy in this building than other conventional buildings. We can’t solve everything but we can make things better,” he added.

To note, the mayor expressed concerns on high-rise buildings because of the “questionable” existing safety measures.

He had repeatedly said in the past that he does not want to compromise the safety of the people.  (FREEMAN)