"Sec. 24. The City Engineer—His powers and duties.— There shall be a city engineer, who shall be in charge of the department of engineering and public works. He shall receive a salary not exceeding four thousand two hundred pesos per annum. He shall also be ex-officio district highway engineer for the first district of the province of Negros Occidental. As ex-officio district highway engineer, he shall receive an additional compensation of nine thousand pesos per annum, payable from the Highway Special Fund or any available fund of the first highway engineering district: Provided, That the security of tenure for the present incumbent highway district engineer for the first highway engineering district shall not be affected: And, Provided, further, That the aggregate salary as city engineer and ex-officio district engineer shall not exceed fifteen thousand pesos per annum. He shall have the following powers and duties:
"(a) He shall have charge of all the surveying and engineering work of the city and the district and shall perform such service in connection with public improvements or any wok entered upon or proposed by the city or the district, or any department thereof, as may require the skill and experience of a civil engineer;
"(b) He shall ascertain, record, and establish monuments of the city survey and from thence extend the survey of the city, and locate, establish and survey all city and district property and also private property abutting the same, whenever directed by the mayor;
"(c) He shall prepare and submit plans, maps, specifications and estimates for buildings, streets, bridges, docks, and other public works and supervise the construction and repair of the same;
"(d) He shall make such tests and inspection of engineering materials used in construction and repair as may be necessary to protect the city and the district from the use of materials of a poor or dangerous quality;
"(e) He shall have the care of all public buildings, including markets and slaughterhouses and all buildings rented for city purposes, and of any system now or hereafter established by the city for lighting the streets, public places or public buildings;
"(f) He shall have the care of all public streets, parks and bridges, and shall maintain, clean, sprinkle and regulate the use of the same for all purposes as provided by ordinance; shall collect and dispose of all garbage, refuse, the contents of closets, vaults and cesspools, and all other offensive and dangerous substances within the city and the district;
"(g) He shall have the care and custody of all public docks, wharves, piers, levees, and landing places owned by the city and the district;
"(h) He shall prevent the encroachment of private buildings and fences on the streets and public places of the city and the district;
"(i) He shall have general supervision and inspection of all private docks, wharves, piers, levees and landing places and other property bordering on the harbor, rivers, esteros and waterways of the city and the district, and shall issue permits for the construction, repair and removal of the same;
"(j) He shall have the care and custody of the public system of waterworks and sewers, and all sources of water supply, and shall control, maintain and regulate the use of the same, in accordance with the ordinance relating thereto; shall inspect and regulate the use of all private systems for supplying water to the city and the district and its inhabitants, and all private sewers and their connection with the public sewer system;
"(k) He shall supervise the laying of mains and connections for the purpose of supplying gas to the inhabitants of the city and the district;
"(l) He shall inspect and report on the conditions of public property and public works whenever required by the mayor;
"(m) He shall supervise and regulate the location and use of engines, boilers, forges, and other manufacturing and heating appliances in accordance with law and ordinance relating thereto. He is authorized to charge fees at rates to be fixed by the board with the approval of the department head, for the sanitation and transportation services and supplies furnished by his department;
"(n) He shall inspect and supervise the construction, removal, and safety of private buildings, and regulate and enforce the numbering of houses, in accordance with the ordinances of the city and the district;
"(o) With the previous approval of the mayor in each case, he shall order the removal of buildings and structures erected in violation of the ordinances; shall order the removal of the materials employed in the construction or repair of any building or structure made in violation of said ordinances, shall cause buildings and structures dangerous to the public to be made secure or torn down; and
"(p) He shall file and preserve all maps, plans, notes, surveys and other papers and documents pertaining to his office."
