MMDA eyes cleanup of Tondo tenements

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday it is planning to clean up and rehabilitate medium-rise apartment buildings in Tondo, Manila.

MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando said his agency has started meeting with the tenement residents to inform them of the upcoming cleanup, which is aimed at transforming the tenements into “Tondominiums.”

Fernando said it would be the MMDA’s first time to undertake the repair and rehabilitation of high-rise apartment buildings in Metro Manila.

Fernando heads the Metro Manila Inter-Agency Committee (MMIAC) on Informal Settlers, composed of officials of the MMDA, the National Housing Authority (NHA), the Philippine Commission on Urban Poor and other local government units and non-government organizations.

According to Fernando, the Vitas tenement project will involve the extensive cleanup of each tenement unit. There are 27 medium-rise tenements in the Vitas area with a total of 1,664 units that measure 18 square meters each. The low-cost housing project is managed by the NHA.

According to Fernando, eyesores such as chicken coops, clotheslines, billboards and plant boxes will be removed as these tend to obstruct the tenements’ corridors.

“We will remove all the unnecessary items, scrub everything and repaint it. We want the people to have a clean environment. People tend to behave in accordance with their surroundings,” Fernando said.

Fernando said the cleanup of the Vitas tenements is part of the complete makeover of the Tondo district, which the MMDA intends to convert into a premier residential area. “We are hoping to enhance the productivity of the Tondo residents. People tend to look and do well in cleaner and more orderly surroundings,” he said.

Earlier, the MMDA, the Manila city government and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) started clearing the Tondo portion of the R-10 Road as well as the traffic-prone Kapulong and Moriones streets that link R-10 to Manila’s Port Area. The MMDA will also install tower lights along R-10 and nearby Tondo streets to help deter crime.

With a population of 407,330 in 2007 and an area of only 5.64 square kilometers, Tondo is arguably the most densely populated district of Manila with an average population density of 69,297 persons per square kilometer.