Funding For Shrine Hills Geohazard Study
A P750,000 fund for the Shrine Hills’s development study is expected to be approved soon.
The appropriation is included in the supplemental appropriations endorsed by the City Mayor’s Office (CMO) as detailed on the Proposed Supplemental Budget (SB) No. 1 for Calendar Year 2010.
SB No. 1, which is yet to be approved by the City Council, is expected to be deliberated during the special council session on Friday. City Council committee on environment and natural resources chair Councilor Leonardo Avila said the sum will fund a geo-hazard assessment on Shrine Hills’ slope stability.
“I am positive of its approval,” Avila said through text.
The appropriation for the study in Shrine Hills stemmed from protests made by Barangay Ma-a Federation of Homeowners Associations Inc. (BMFHAI) to the council in opposition to the construction of two high-end subdivisions at the elevated parts of Shrine Hills.
“(It should be passed without problems) considering it was also the council that passed a resolution to the (CMO) requesting for a study to be conducted before the development plans of two subdivision are approved,” Avila said.
City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte last week said his intentions to have SB No. 1 approved before the new administration of Mayor-elect Sara Duterte begins on July 1.
Duterte was interviewed at the Davao Convention and Trade CEnter after a joint session of City Peace and Order Council (CPOC), People’s Law Enforcement Board (Pleb), and City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Cadac).
Through a letter dated June 11, the City Mayor addressed the outgoing Vice Mayor requesting for a special session “to tackle, deliberate, and pass the requested legislative authority for SB No. 1, so as not to hamper the continuing operation relative to the Peace and Order Program of the City.”
The BMFHAI, since 2007, has opposed the construction of Camella Homes (formerly Crown Communities subdivision) and Palm Grove West of DMC Urban Property Development Incorporated (DMC-UPDI), said BMHOAI head Norma Javellana.
In aid of the legislation of the city’s Zoning Ordinance, committees of Avila, chairman of the environment and natural resources committee, and Councilor Pilar Braga, chair of the Zoning Ordinance-Technical Working Group (ZO-TWG), initiated an ocular inspection in Shrine Hills.
This was conducted November last year by UP-Diliman National Institute of Geological Sciences geo-hazard specialist and associate professor Sandra Catane.
The brief inspection was participated by representatives from both subdivision developers and BMFHAI.
Catane then made a recommendation to the City Council to conduct an in-depth study on the geo-hazard signs she observed as present in Shrine Hills.
Since then Javellana said BMHOAI has been handing out open letters to the residents of Ma-a urging for the protection of Shrine Hills. More than 3,200 signatures of support for the protection of Shrine Hills have been collected, which Javellana wish to present to incoming City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Catane identified geo-hazards in Shrine Hills to be:
* Rocks underlying the Shrine Hill are inherently unstable.
* Evidence of landslides including debris fall, rock fall and creep are apparent in steep slopes bounding the Shrine Hill.
* Groundwater levels in some parts of the hill are elevated as indicated by the presence of several springs.
* Natural drainages of the hill are hazardous areas as floods may inundate the houses during intense precipitation and continuous stream erosion will eventually undermine the foundation of the house structures. – source: Sun Star Davao, June 15, 2010