Makati extends deadline for West Tower condo to drain flooded basement

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City government extended the deadline for the management of the West Tower condominium building in Barangay Bangkal to finish draining the water from its basement, city engineer Nelson Morales said yesterday.

Morales said the residents of West Tower – around 60 families or about 500 individuals – reported to the city government the apparent mismanagement of the condominium and their lack of financial resources at the moment to meet the deadline.

“We understand the situation of the unit owners, who apparently have been abandoned by their building administrator. We will give the building management until Friday next week, but there will be no more extension,” Morales said.

Morales said should the management of West Tower fail again to meet the deadline, the city will have to revoke the West Tower’s occupancy and building permits.

He earlier said the management of West Tower has been negligent for allowing the water to accumulate in the basement, preventing authorities from tracing the cause of a gas leak that prompted the city government to order the evacuation of the residents from the building.

Morales said they uncovered possible violations of the Building Code on the part of the West Tower’s building administrator.

He said buildings are required, under the law, to have a separate motor for their sewerage treatment plant (STP), but the West Tower has none.

“The West Tower apparently did not have a functioning motor for their sewerage treatment plant and apparently had one motor being used by the sump pit and the STP, which is not allowed,” Morales said, adding that the city engineer’s office can order the closure of the building.

As of yesterday, Morales said there were no longer any smell of gasoline in the basement of West Tower.

“Should the smell of gasoline return to the area outside the condominium, the city can cite the management of West Tower for improperly disposing the mixture of petroleum and water from the basement,” Morales said.

Makati Mayor Junjun Binay ordered yesterday the city’s department of environment services to investigate the matter and give a report within 24 hours.

Morales said Vicente Clado, building administrator of the West Tower, has been inaccessible since yesterday. He said he has been calling Clado to discuss the situation, but Clado could not be reached.

The city government earlier said the gas leak is not coming from the pipelines of the First Philippines Industrial Corp., which owns the pipelines running from the oil depot in Pandacan, Manila to Batangas.