■ SM CITY MAY SUSPEND OPERATION OF ELEVATORS

SM City Cebu assures it is cooperating with the Cebu City Office of Building Official to comply with the requirements to renew permits for all its 12 elevators

SM City Cebu may have to suspend the operation of its 12 elevators pending renewal of its permit to operate the machine, thus ordered the Cebu City Office of the Building Official. Engr. Josefa Ylanan said the order was sent to the SM management last June 13. A portion of the letter, which was addressed to Engr. Van Aberia, the mall’s manager, said, “Giving paramount consideration to the public safety, by the virtue of the authority vested upon this office, you are hereby directed to suspend all elevator operations in your establishment until the permits to operate the same are issued by this office.”

The Cebu City’s Office of the Building Official (OBO) ordered the management of SM City Cebu to temporarily suspend the operation of their 12 elevators pending the renewal of the permits.

Engr. Josefa Ylanan said that the OBO served the letter yesterday morning following the notice of violation it sent to the mall last June 13.

“Giving paramount consideration to the public safety, by the virtue of the authority vested upon this office, you are hereby directed to suspend all elevator operations in your establishment until the permits to operate the same are issued by this office,” read a portion of the letter addressed to Engr. Van Aberia, the mall manager.

In a statement, SM City Cebu said that the mall already received the notice from City Hall, and assured that it is cooperating with OBO to fulfill all the requirements to get all elevator services back to normal operations.

“In the meantime, we have augmented our resources in order to assist all our customers, tenants and service providers in gaining access anywhere inside the mall. We will continue to ensure the convenience and safety for all our shoppers and partners,” the mall added.

The permits for all elevators expired last June 8. Two days before the permits expired, one of the mall’s elevators fell from the third floor to the upper ground, prompting OBO to conduct an inspection.

In a phone interview, Ylanan said the mall has to comply first with the requirements on the mechanical and electronic operations of the elevators before City Hall could approved the application for the renewal of permits.

The manufacturer of the elevator must also provide a certification, which SM promised to forward to OBO yesterday.

Ylanan said that a team of personnel from OBO will visit the mall from time to time to check the mall’s compliance.

If they will not heed the order, Ylanan said that the OBO will endorse the matter to the City Legal Office. /