Mindanaotoday.com | City Hall assures efforts to streamline building permit approval
By: Stephen Capillas
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Leaders and representatives of Cagayan de Oro City’s construction industry received updates on City Hall’s efforts to streamline building permit processing and approval over the weekend.
In his speech to open the annual conference with allied professional organizations (OBO), acting OBO chief Engr. Joel Momongan thanked those in attendance and pledged his office’s commitment to fasttrack the processing and approval of building permits in accordance to an amended joint memorandum circular (JMC) on the guidelines in the processing of construction related permits.
The joint memorandum circular issued last year was in keeping with the national government’s “ease of doing business” (EODB) program to encourage more investors to do business in the country.
“(Through this conference) we will exchange ideas and our office will get your inputs on what can be done (to simplify and fasttrack the processing and approval of building permits),” Momongan said in Visayan.
Among those who attended the conference that was held in person for the first time in two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic were architects, geodetic engineers and “design professionals” in the city, Misamis Oriental province and neighboring areas.
Asst. OBO chief Maria Concepcion Alcantara said their office is only waiting on their relocation to the City Tourism Hall to improve their services to the public.
Alcantara said City Hall’s efforts to streamline its processing and approval of building permits is rooted in the government’s NEHEMIA program or “National Effort For the Harmonization of Efficiency Measures for Interrelated Agencies.”
“Like the Biblical character of Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem (in less than two months), the NEHEMIA program was created…to institutionalize procedures that would streamline (processing and approval of permits),” she said.
Among the measures or reforms considered to fasttrack processing and approval of building permits is to require design professional (architect/engineer) and building owners to sign an affidavit of undertaking certifying that all information supplied in the permit application is true.
“There are cases when property owners make last minute changes (to plans) resulting in (a re-evaluation of application),” Alcantara said. (SC | CIO)
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