Pupils still barred from using 58 classrooms
NO BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED
CITY Engineer Virginia Rosario stood pat on her earlier decision not to issue occupancy permits to the 11 school buildings comprising of 58 classrooms built by BF Corporation in Dagupan until the contractor complies with the requirements for a building permit which is a normal building requirement.
She reiterated this notwithstanding the call of an official of the city school division, Edilberto Abalos, education program supervisor, to issue the building permit to each of the 11 school buildings owing to continuing shortage of classrooms.
He told the KBP Forum, that the city’s schools continue to work on a two-shift policy, requiring half of the pupils will go to school in the morning and another half in the afternoon so all can be accommodated in the existing school buildings.
Rosario said BF Corporation, owned by former Metro Manila Chairman Bayani Fernando, in a meeting with Mayor Belen Fernandez and officials of her office a few months ago assured the city government that it will comply with the necessary documents for the issuance of building permits.
Rosario also stopped pupils from using the classrooms due to some identified structural issues that needed to be addressed particularly the use of light materials that will make the temperature inside the classrooms too hot for the pupils to bear.
Rosario also cited the ground elevation of the school buildings that make the classrooms susceptible to flooding and went on to cite a city ordinance that that requires the construction of two-storey buildings instead of just one storey because Dagupan is prone to flooding.
She said the contractor served alibis including the absence of the building designer for tis inability to comply with the city government’s requirements.
“We are concerned about the safety of the children who will be using these classrooms that’s why we cannot issue occupancy permit just like that”, said Rosario.
However, even as Abalos said he supports the concern for safety of pupils, he pointed out that the design can not be a major issue since it is a common design adopted for the region, and approved by the national government, particularly DepEd.
The 11 schools are now 90 per cent complete except for the Salapingao National High School and the Malued Elementary School whose construction is still ongoing, said Abalos.
He reminded the city government that the project under the Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project (PSIP) is aimed at solving the classroom shortage in the country (Hilda Austria/PNA)
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