Yolanda victims withdraw application for units in ‘unsafe’ NHA housing site

AT LEAST four applicants for units at the National Housing Authority (NHA) relocation project for typhoon Yolanda victims in Barangay Cansumangkay in Balangiga, Eastern Samar have withdrawn their papers, citing “safety” reasons. “One application form withdrawn is too many. It means that they know the NHA housing project in Cansumangkay is not safe for relocation. What the government needs to do now is to stop soliciting applications and instead conduct a structural audit and convene the affected families for consultation,” said Tessie Elacion, president of the Balangiga Municipal Unsafe Zone Federation. The four who withdrew, in their letter to Municipal Social Welfare Development Officer Myna Deñado and NHA-8 Regional Manager Rizalde Mediavillo, expressed dismay on the continuous processing of applications even for substandard units, saying that this is tantamount to condoning anomalies in housing projects, and placing Yolanda survivors in more danger. During the fourth-year commemoration of the Yolanda tragedy last Nov. 8, the applicants also asked the NHA why there seems to be no action against the erring contractors or persons involved in the substandard housing units. —