CEBU CITY – Pinatitigil muna ni Cebu City Vice Mayor Tomas “Tommy” Osmeña ang karamihan ng development activities sa Monterrazas hangga’t hindi natatapos ang water catchments at flood mitigation works na dapat pumigil sa posibleng panganib sa mga residenteng nakatira sa ibaba ng proyekto.
Sa Facebook post nitong Lunes ng June 15, sinabi ni Osmeña na hindi dapat maghintay ang lungsod ng ingay ng publiko, o pagkamatay ng tao, bago kumilos.
“The issue of Monterrazas is not currently in the public eye, but I don’t care. It is irresponsible and shortsighted to wait for public clamor to address it. To do nothing isn’t just unacceptable, it is CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT,” sabi ni Osmeña.
Aniya, simple ang panukala: tapusin muna ang water catchments bago ituloy ang anumang karagdagang earthmoving sa lugar.
“What I’m proposing for Monterrazas is not unreasonable: simply that the water catchments be completed before any other earth moving takes place. Until then, all further development is subject to a CEASE and DESIST,” giit niya.
Para kay Osmeña, hindi ito usapin ng abala, iskedyul, o kita ng developer.
“This is not a matter of inconvenience or timelines or developer profit. This is a matter of human lives. The potential consequences of this risk are fatal,” sabi niya.
Pinakamalaking peligro, ayon sa kanya, ang hinaharap ng mahihirap na nakatira sa ibaba ng development, pero sila rin ang walang sapat na boses sa usapin.
“The cruel reality is that the people who are most at risk, the poor who live underneath the development, have no say in what happens above them. They do not have PR firms and influencers to speak on their behalf. They do not have a voice,” sabi ni Osmeña.
“I will be their voice,” dagdag niya.
Binalikan din ni Osmeña ang dati niyang babala noong 2018 laban sa matataas na gusaling hindi maaabot ng 18-story ladder truck ng lungsod.
“Why do we insist on waiting for someone to die before doing anything? In 2018, I proposed a moratorium on new buildings taller than what our single 18-story ladder truck could reach. I was called anti-business and anti-progress simply for saying lives are more important than buildings. But just 5 years later when I was no longer mayor a 35-story condominium caught a fire so catastrophic it was impossible to control. We can only be grateful that it was still under construction and unoccupied,” sabi niya.
“How many would have died if there were people living in that condominium?” dagdag niya.
Inaasahang tatalakayin ng Cebu City Council ang proposed resolution ni Osmeña na humihimok kay Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. na maglabas ng cease-and-desist order laban sa karamihan sa mga development activities ng Monterrazas.
Sa panukala, papayagan lamang ang mga gawaing may kinalaman sa mga water catchment at flood mitigation. Hindi nito layong tuluyang ihinto ang buong proyekto, kundi pigilan muna ang karagdagang peligro habang hindi pa tapos ang mga flood-control structures. /Bistado