Metro land use plans incomplete

None of the 17 cities and municipalities of Metro Manila have completed its revised comprehensive land use plans (CLUP) and zoning ordinances (ZO) at the end of the Dec. 31 deadline set by President Estrada.

As of Dec. 27, only two of the 17 local government units were able to reach the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) approval level, which represents the final stage of the process.

Mandaluyong City and San Juan municipality were able to reach the HLURB approval stage but both plans were returned for lack of certain requirements.

As far as the finalization of the CLUPs and ZOs are concerned, only three LGUs namely Makati City, Parañaque City and Malabon were able to comply.

The CLUPs and ZOs of the three LGUs are scheduled for review at the joint review committee of the HLURB and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Quezon City and Las Piñas City have also submitted their plans and are presently being evaluated at the joint review committee.

Four LGUs, namely Pateros, Manila, Pasay and Navotas, were still at the initial formulation and revision stage while Pasig City was still at the second stage.

The four LGUs are either in the process of preparing the CLUPs or hiring consultants to prepare the CLUPs.

Caloocan, Marikina, Valenzuela and Taguig, on the other hand, have reached the city or municipal council approval stage on its way to the joint review committee of the HLURB and the MMDA.

Muntinlupa, for its part, has indicated that it is still in the process of updating its 1993 CLUP and ZO.

All 17 LGUs were initially directed to come up with the revised CLUPs and ZOs sometime in 1988 in response to the changes brought about by urbanization.

The initial deadline was set at the end of 1999 but was moved to March 2000 as none of the LGUs were able to comply at that time.

A further reset of the deadline was made to July 2000 and later on to end-December 2000 as approved by President Estrada to accommodate the LGUs.