Only Two Fire Trucks For The Country's Financial And Urban Tourism Capital
Makati, the country’s financial capital and recently designated by President Arroyo as the urban tourism capital, appears to be at the tail end of the national government’s priorities in the distribution of fire trucks and firefighting equipment in Metro Manila.
Based on a list of Metro cities and towns scheduled to receive fire trucks from Japan as part of a special loan package, Makati will receive only two fire trucks, while the neighboring cities of Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa and Parañaque will receive from four to three fire trucks each. Taguig will get five fire trucks, Pateros, two; while Las Piñas will receive eight fire trucks.
In a letter to Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay reiterated the city’s request for new fire trucks and firefighting equipment, saying that the city government needs to be adequately equipped to respond to emergencies and crisis situations “especially in the light of (President Arroyo’s) directive to identify and promote Makati as the primary urban tourist destination point in the Philippines.”
The mayor said majority of the buildings in Makati’s Central Business District (CBD) are skyscrapers that, in case of emergencies, would require tall fire ladders. Makati has only one fire truck equipped with a ladder but it can only reach as high as the eight floor of a building. The tallest building in Makati, the PBCom Towers, is 52 stories high.
“In the interest of safety, it would therefore be a critical part of being prepared for us to have such basic equipment at our disposal,” he said.
Makati has a total of 12 fire trucks, eight of them purchased by the local government in the 1980s. Only four trucks were provided by the national government, and the last one was delivered in 1992.
The lopsided distribution is amplified by the amount Makati collects in Fire Code fees from its business and commercial establishments. Among Metro Manila’s local governments, Makati is the biggest collector of Fire Code fees, remitting on the average P83 million a year to the national government.
The Japanese government is set to extend a P2.31 billion loan package to the national government for a Metro Manila Fire Protection Enhancement Project. The project includes the construction of new fire stations, and the repair of existing ones, as well as fire-fighting equipment, which includes 81 fire trucks to be distributed among the local governments of Metro Manila. The project will be funded by the Special Loan Facility, or the Obuchi Fund.
Earlier, Binay assailed the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) for failing to provide the Makati Fire Department with only eight bunker coats for the city’s 275 firemen.
Binay added that the BFP’s failure to provide the firemen not only in Makati but in Metro Manila with adequate protective gear puts the safety of the public at risk. The agency is also courting accusations of official neglect, he said.
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Makati, the country’s financial capital and recently designated by President Arroyo as the urban tourism capital, appears to be at the tail end of the national government’s priorities in the distribution of fire trucks and firefighting equipment in Metro Manila.
Based on a list of Metro cities and towns scheduled to receive fire trucks from Japan as part of a special loan package, Makati will receive only two fire trucks, while the neighboring cities of Mandaluyong, Muntinlupa and Parañaque will receive from four to three fire trucks each. Taguig will get five fire trucks, Pateros, two; while Las Piñas will receive eight fire trucks.
In a letter to Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay reiterated the city’s request for new fire trucks and firefighting equipment, saying that the city government needs to be adequately equipped to respond to emergencies and crisis situations “especially in the light of (President Arroyo’s) directive to identify and promote Makati as the primary urban tourist destination point in the Philippines.”
The mayor said majority of the buildings in Makati’s Central Business District (CBD) are skyscrapers that, in case of emergencies, would require tall fire ladders. Makati has only one fire truck equipped with a ladder but it can only reach as high as the eight floor of a building. The tallest building in Makati, the PBCom Towers, is 52 stories high.
“In the interest of safety, it would therefore be a critical part of being prepared for us to have such basic equipment at our disposal,” he said.
Makati has a total of 12 fire trucks, eight of them purchased by the local government in the 1980s. Only four trucks were provided by the national government, and the last one was delivered in 1992.
The lopsided distribution is amplified by the amount Makati collects in Fire Code fees from its business and commercial establishments. Among Metro Manila’s local governments, Makati is the biggest collector of Fire Code fees, remitting on the average P83 million a year to the national government.
The Japanese government is set to extend a P2.31 billion loan package to the national government for a Metro Manila Fire Protection Enhancement Project. The project includes the construction of new fire stations, and the repair of existing ones, as well as fire-fighting equipment, which includes 81 fire trucks to be distributed among the local governments of Metro Manila. The project will be funded by the Special Loan Facility, or the Obuchi Fund.
Earlier, Binay assailed the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) for failing to provide the Makati Fire Department with only eight bunker coats for the city’s 275 firemen.
Binay added that the BFP’s failure to provide the firemen not only in Makati but in Metro Manila with adequate protective gear puts the safety of the public at risk. The agency is also courting accusations of official neglect, he said.
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