P50M not enough to provide Homes for city’s urban poor

CEBU, Philippines - The P50 million appropriation for the acquisition of lots for the urban poor in Cebu City is not sufficient.

This was according to Lawyer Collin Rosell, chief of Cebu City’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) during a press briefing yesterday, who stressed their concern on the P50 million appropriation from the 2013 Annual Budget of the Cebu City government.

“It is not easy to relocate close to 2,000 families. We only generated 200 home lots, at least 10 percent (of the total number of those to be relocated),” explained Rosell.

The DWUP is planning to construct a four-storey medium-rise building near the newly constructed church in Inayawan and a two-storey building in Quiot, Pardo, in order to house all displaced families of demolitions, fires and danger zone occupants.

Based on the records of DWUP, there are 300 occupants living in Danger Zones in Cebu City, including those living near rivers and seas, landslide prone areas, among others.

According to Rosell, they are still negotiating with the owner of the property in Inayawan if they could bring down the price of the lot which ranges from P4,000-P4,500 per square meter.

Rosell said they will be acquiring 21,000 square meters of property in Inayawan and 80 percent of the area will be reserved for the construction of the medium-rise building.

Further, Rosell said they can accommodate 98 informal settlers living along the M.J. Cuenco Ave. to San Jose de la Montaña stretch of the Mahiga Creek considering they still have 300 slots available for relocation sites.

The relocation sites are in San Jose, Budlaan, Lahug, Apas and Bulacao all in Cebu City.

Last Friday, the City Legal Office and DWUP served notices to 98 informal settlers living along the Mahiga Creek for them to vacate the area.

The residents were given 15 days from receipt of the notices to voluntarily remove the illegal structures they built. — (FREEMAN)