Action eyed vs owners of properties encroaching on fire hydrants

CEBU, Philippines — With the standing order of Mayor-elect Nestor Archival, Cebu City officials are eyeing legal action regarding seven fire hydrants that have been found encroached upon by private properties.

Last Tuesday, Archival joined the meeting with the Green Council and proposed suggestions on the ongoing issue with the fire hydrants in the city, majority of which are reported to be missing, have no water meters, or have been encroached upon by sidewalks or private properties such as houses.

In their meeting, they discussed two issues. First, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) was asked to put up water meters on fire hydrants being utilized by the barangay fire brigades and the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Due to the number of complaints from firefighters during emergency situations about the many non-functioning hydrants, the Cebu City Fire Office was prompted to report the matter.

Second was regarding the transfer of all the fire hydrants being encroached upon by sidewalks and private properties.

According to Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chairman Ramil Ayuman, Archival said in their meeting that there should be legal action taken for the encroachment.

Ayuman said Cebu City Prevention Restoration Order and Beautification Enhancement team has already identified at least seven fire hydrants encroached upon by private properties. He added they will send a letter to the owners of these properties.

When asked what they will do about the fire hydrants found inside private properties, Ayuman said they will first wait for the appropriate legal proceeding or opinion before taking action such as breaking or removing the hydrants.

However, he later noted that if a fire hydrant has really been encroached upon by private property, they will surely clear the area around it, following the three-meter clearance of the hydrant to any property.

He also added that they have yet to determine how the hydrants got encroached and added that it’s why they want to conduct an inventory of all hydrants in the city.

Meanwhile, officials are pushing for urgent regulation and solutions regarding the issue of the unmetered, malfunctioning, and missing fire hydrants following the growing concerns over water wastage.

Ayuman said the BFP has 226 fire hydrants, while MCWD has 368 hydrants within the city, and about 300 fire hydrants have no meters, while only 23 have meters.

Ayuman added both the BFP and MCWD have yet to reconcile their data on the fire hydrants in the city. He said that Archival told them to have the data submitted before June 26.

When asked where they are going to get the budget for putting water meters on the fire hydrants, he said that “it depends” and the MCWD and city government will have to talk about it first.

However, as CCDRRMC chairman, he shared that the disaster office is willing to set aside a budget for it. - Caren Itolle, CNU intern/BRP