City to cancel Suntrust permits
IF ROAD repairs do not happen fast, a halt in construction could ensue for Suntrust 88 in Gibraltar.
Mayor Mauricio Domogan said he has sent orders for the city engineering and city officials to suspend construction of the structure and focus on repair of rip-raping if needed.
Domogan said a fast racking of work must be done as he acknowledged the anger of motorists and the fear of residents in the Gibraltar area where the road has eroded and continues to thin.
“We will move to cancel permits if it is needed until they comply is.”
Domogan said he has known Suntrust 88 to have quality
projects in other areas but lamented the quality of work shown here is deplorable.
“It is the motorists who are suffering.”
Suntrust representative, Basilo Almazan said the Department of Public Works and Highways, building officials and the local council has reached an agreement to follow the work plan the company has adopted to repair the damage done to the road.
Almazan said during the stakeholders meeting an agreement to close the Gibraltar road was reached to give repairs a priority, freeing the road from traffic and the danger of collapse.
Almazan said the company is being proactive in the repairs as they pitch in to help the DPWH and the City saying it eyed to be finished in a month and a half.
Nearby Tower Condominium residents have also aired concern the riprap wall on their side is also in the danger of collapse to which Suntrust said inspection will also be done to access the condition of the wall.
Almazan during the meeting with the local council last week said problems began when the DPWH began rehabilitation of drainage systems alleging it caused the collapse of Sections A and B of the project saying faulty pipes installed by contractor G.A Flores contributed to the soil condition and erosion of riprap walls.
City Engineer, Alex Castaneda however said a miscalculation of scale and height by Suntrust is a factor in the collapse saying seepage of water caused by the alleged faulty pipes installed is not enough to bring down the entire foundations of the road.
The sisters of the Good Shepherd Convent as well as residents in the area have opposed the expansion of the original 6story building as early as 2015.
Today, the company has pledged to coordinate with the city on a weekly basis along with engineering and building officials.