Mandaue road as mall access opposed

CEBU, Philippines - Officials and residents of Barangay Basak, Mandaue City are opposing the development plan of a mall which shows that a barangay road will be used as the mall’s main entrance and exit point.

The barangay council aired its opposition in Resolution No. 06-2016, recommending for the disapproval of the site development plan of Gaisano Grand Mall which proposes the use of Palm Hill Road as the main access to the mall.

"It is the honest observa-tion and recommendation that the site development plan be disapproved except when the basement entrance/exit will be relocated to another area," the resolution reads.

The mall is expected to open by December.

Mandaue City Association of Barangay Captains President Ernie Manatad, who was tasked by the City Council to investigate the matter, said the complaint of the barangay officials and residents are valid as this would affect the traffic flow in the area.

Last March 15, a meeting was conducted between representatives of the mall, Office of the Building Official head Andres Suson and Barangay Basak officials.

During the meeting, two of Basak’s barangay kagawads, Honey Mabanto and Michael Ostia, pointed out that Palm Hill Road is narrow, with a width of just three meters.

At present, the road caters to the residents living in the area including the residents of Palm Subdivision, Dona Jacinta Subdivision and the residents of Sitio Tundan, one of the more populated sitios in the barangay.

"The utilization of the barangay road will do more harm than good to the residents using the Palm Hill road considering that it is very narrow and not conducive to a remarkable increase of traffic brought about by mall customers, not to mention the delivery trucks that will presumably use the same," the barangay officials further said in the resolution.

During the meeting, Suson also pointed out to Gaisano Grand Mall representative Ester Librando that the solution to the problem is for the mall to acquire the private lot adjacent to the mall site and turn that lot into the mall’s entrance and exit point. The lot has a total area of 510 square meters.

Suson added that the city will not issue Gaisano Grand Mall an occupancy permit if the mall will not acquire the adjacent lot. —/JBB (FREEMAN)