To have a hospital of this standard would be fantastic if it is anywhere like St Luke's in Manila. It shows you how backward our elected politicians really are. The City Council is again flexing its legal calisthenics by refusing to grant a building permit to the P1Billion ACE Dumaguete Doctors Hospital simply because the provincial board, since last year, has not yet returned the approved new city zoning ordinance covering such construction. While thousands are needing hospital attention, and after such grandiose groundbreaking ceremonies, the actual construction of the P1Billion ACE Dumaguete Doctors Hospital is awaiting the city council’s clearance for a building permit from he city engineer, who is also waiting for the provincial board to approve and clear the city legislation. The issue is the zoning policy since the new hospital is located in a big vacant suitable lot at Claytown subdivision. Why so very bureaucratic? A simple building permit would clear the way for the construction and, it will now be ready for the next additional four or a total of 8 floors. This would be conceivably the biggest private-state-of-the- art hospital in town. We need to elect investor- friendly city councilmen who are on the practical side of things and not depend's blindly on the books, said one investor.The people are sovereign, what is good for the people reigns supreme. Time is of the essence and what is so controversial so as to delay investors readiness for the construction of a P 1 billion state-of-the-art hospital simply because the Provincial Board has not finished its review of the new city zoning ordinance passed in 2013. This despite the arrival of heavy equipment necessary to start construction of an 8-storey medical facility with the City Engineer and City Legal Officer refusing to issue a temporary building permit until the Provincial Board declares first valid the new zoning ordinance, which would reclassify the proposed site of the Allied Care Experts Medical Center Dumaguete Doctors Tertiary Hospital in Barangay Daro into a commercial district fit to be built with a massive and tall edifice. But the doctors and the public voiced impatience over the snailpaced and gobbledygook legislative process, that cause undue delay in the completion of a modern 1, 300 bed capacity hospital. Dr. Jonathan Amante, President of ACE Dumaguete Doctors Inc. said that the last hospital built for the city and Negros Oriental was 50 years ago. ACE Dumaguete is supposed to be the 19th branch of the hospital chain known for offering services at par with St. Luke’s. In contrast, the cities of Tagbilaran and Cagayan de Oro, supposedly the 20th and 21st branches, respectively, are already in the advance stages of construction overtaking Dumaguete’s. Some of the advocate- doctors who attended Wednesday’s session of the city council manifested their confusion as to why they had to undergo the bureaucratic processes to secure the permits, clearance, soil tests, and social acceptability, among others only to reach a dead end by the obstinate refusal of the city government to issue a building permit. Nevertheless, the advocates of the tertiary hospital are inclined to proceed with the construction anytime reasoning that an 8-storey building could not be built overnight. They reckon that by the time the first two floors would be completed, the zoning ordinance shall have been declared valid by the Provincial Board
They are probably waiting for an envelope stuffed with piso before issuing the permit! No grease no permit! IMHO
Perhaps some rich well connected family is seeing direct competition with a their monopoly??? That is always a possibility too... Follow the money it will always lead to the root cause of any problem!
Not me. They aren't my politicians. I can't vote. This is true for probably most of the people on this forum. They can't pay for hospital attention? Is this new hospital going to solve that? It seems that Silliman does regularly have issues providing private rooms though. Yeah? You should try getting an internet connection here, or just about any other service. Relax, it's more fun in the Philippines.
