Condo owner faces criminal raps for gondola collapse

MANILA, Philippines -  The owner of a Makati City condominium project where a gondola collapsed, killing 10 construction workers, could face criminal charges if it is proven that its officials did not implement safety measures at the worksite, an official said yesterday.

Makati police chief Senior Superintendent Froilan Bonifacio said their investigative team, led by Inspector Jimmy Mislang, wrapped up the ocular inspection of the Eton Residences condominium worksite yesterday.

Without going into details, Bonifacio said the inspection conducted by the police team revealed several safety concerns about the worksite such as the apparent lack of safety reminders, including the operation of the gondola, and the apparent lack of safety inspections of the gondola.

He said Eton Properties, Inc., the owner of the condominium project,  could also face charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide.

Meanwhile, the Makati police said the testimony given by survivor Roel Perez gave a clearer picture of the moments prior to the gondola’s collapse.

Perez said that when the gondola left the 33rd floor, he and five other workers were already onboard. Perez said the gondola stopped at the 28th floor, where five other workers climbed on.

He told police that it was after the gondola left the 28th floor that he heard the cables snap. The gondola then broke free from the cables and plummeted down and stopped at the eighth floor. Perez is still recuperating from multiple fractures at the Ospital ng Makati. 

Lifts installed without permits

Meanwhile, the Makati City engineer’s office released yesterday its own findings on the incident.

The city engineer’s office said the worksite was last inspected on Oct. 28, 2010 and a sub-contractor installed eight gondolas after the inspection and without securing a permit from the Makati City engineering department.

The gondola that figured in the accident, according to the city engineer’s office, had a load of 630 kilos with a maximum capacity of two persons. At the time of the accident, however, the gondola had 11 passengers. 

The overloading of the gondola, according to the findings, caused the davit arm to bend and the cable to snap. A davit is a structure, usually made of steel, used to lower things over an edge of a long drop-off such as lowering a maintenance trapeze down a building or launching a lifeboat over the side of a ship.

According to the city engineer’s office, since the last inspection, no preventive maintenance record was presented for all temporary mechanical equipment.

The city engineer’s office also found that the worksite violated Building Code provisions on securing ancillary permits for mechanical loads and inadequately maintained mechanical equipment.

Makati City Hall spokesman Joey Salgado said the city engineer’s office is studying who should be held liable for the violations.

“Is it the general contractor or the sub-contractor? But of course, since the eight gondolas were installed by the sub-contractor after our last inspection, it is impossible that the general contractor could not have known about it,” Salgado said.