School buildings where residents of  barangays Malasibog and Paitan, Escalante City, Negros Occidental, had  evacuated  after land fissures in  their areas threatened to trigger more landslides, are not safe, Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Director Leo Van Juguan said yesterday.

He said that as of  January 16,  there were 53 families from Sitio Baloc, Barangay Malasibog, and five families from Barangay Paitan who evacuated from the landslide areas, many of whom were brought to the Malasibog Elementary School.

 Juguan said he asked Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon  Jr. in a letter that the damaged buildings at the Malasibog Elementary School   be abandoned as they pose risks to teachers, students and the evacuees using them.

The evacuees using these defective structures  at elementary school must be transferred to a safe evacuation site, he said.

Juguan said his recommendations to the governor were based on a January 14  MGB field assessment of the reported  land fissures in Sitio Baloc, Barangay Malasibog and  Barangay Paitan, that triggered landslides.

The MGB field assessment report said the buildings currently being used as an evacuation site are not safe for use or habitation since there are numerous cracks in their titling walls.

All the houses  in the slopes and at the foot of Mt. Solitario in the two barangays  must be relocated to a safe area, he also said.

The barangay proper of Malasibog and Paitan could be used as relocation site, he added.

Signs declaring the  landslide site  as a danger zone must also be   installed, he said.

The  reported land fissures  at Sitio Baloc, Barangay Malasibog, and  Barangay Paitan  have resulted in  several landslides   in the slopes of Mt. Solitario  on Dec., 27, 2011 and January 10, 2012, an MGB report said.

Mt. Solitario is approximately 308 meters high and more than 2 kilometers long, and is highly susceptible to landslides, the report said.

The landslides in the area are primarily due to the overloading of unsolicited slope materials, the abundance of ground and rainwater, the type of rocks and the slopping terrain, the report added.

Overloading occurred when the unconsolidated rocks and soil underlying the area was saturated with rainwater and water from gullies , creeks and springs in the area, it added.

Escalante Mayor Melecio Yap could not be reached yesterday but he had earlier said the city government will provide the evacuees with a permanent relocation site.*CPG

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