ONLY 8% DONE

Only 8 percent of units the National Housing Authority was tasked to build after the super typhoon were finished Construction work on 17,281 units in northern Cebu and its outlying islands has not even started: NHA official

Five years after super typhoon Yolanda hit northern Cebu, the National Housing Authority (NHA) has completed only eight percent, or 1,787, of the 22,423 houses it was tasked to build for the victims of the typhoon.

Construction is ongoing on 3,355 units, while work on 17,281 units has not even started.

Engineer Constancio G. Anti- niero, chief of the NHA Province of Cebu, said the allocation was 9,752 units for mainland Cebu, of which only 1,267 units have been completed.

In the Bantayan and Camotes Islands, which had a bigger allocation of 12,671 units, only 520 units have been completed so far.

As this developed, an environmental group criticized the government’s slow rehabilitation in areas hard hit by Yolanda on Thursday, Nov. 8, the anniversary of the storm.

The Municipality of Daanbantayan cornered the bulk of the house allocation in the mainland at 4,363 units, but only 416 have been completed.

“All the completed houses were already turned over to the beneficiaries,” Antiniero said.

With the Department of Budget and Management giving the NHA only until Dec. 31, 2018 to complete the project or return the remaining funds to the national treasury, the NHA is now entering into memorandums of agreement (MOAs) for local government units (LGUs) to continue the housing projects.

Antiniero said the NHA Cebu was allocated P6.5 billion for the 22,423 housing units.

Once the MOAs between the NHA and the LGUs are signed, the funds will be downloaded to their respective governments, and the projects will continue.

The LGUs are Bogo City, Daanbantayan, Medellin, Tabuelan, San Remigio, Tabogon, Borbon, Tuburan, Sogod, Bantayan, Madridejos, Sta. Fe, San Francisco, Poro, Tudela and Pilar.

In Tabuelan, Antiniero said, all the planned 220 units were completed, including the land development, except for the energization by the Cebu Electric Cooperative.

In Medellin, all the 631 units allocated for Northview Park Homes in Barangay Antipolo were completed and turned over to qualified beneficiaries.

But construction has not begun on 569 units for Barangay Pa- nugnawan in the same town. The bidding for the project was won by A5R Dynamic Construction Corp. only last April 24, and the 15 percent mobilization amount has been downloaded to the Medellin LGU.

It is standard procedure for the government to give 15 percent of the total cost of a project for mobility of the winning contractor.

For San Remigio, of 607 units for San Remigio Heights, only 350 units are now being built.

For Bogo City, 750 units are allocated for St. Vincent Ferrer Homes 1 in Barangay Banban, but no house has been built because a development permit was not issued.

Tabogon was allocated 184 units, but only 62 are undergoing construction because they have to revise the site development (plans and details) to suit the actual field condition for approval.

Borbon was allocated 400 units in Barangay Tagnucan, but the development site is still being evaluated.

Tuburan has been allocated 170 units, but only 80 units are undergoing construction for Lantawan Homes in Barangay Antipolo.

The LGUs and the NHA have signed MOAs that would allow the towns to continue the project so they can build 491 houses in Sogod, 617 more units in San Remigio and 750 more units in Bogo City.

Islands

On Bantayan Island, only 520 houses have been completed in its three towns.

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Bantayan town should have 3,520 units, but only 450 units were completed, of which 238 units have been turned over to beneficiaries.

Sta. Fe has an allocation of 2,305 houses, but only 70 units were completed, while in Madridejos, none of its 3,693 houses has been completed. Construction is ongoing on 16 houses.

In the Camotes Islands, none of the 3,153 housing units for its four towns has been built.

In San Francisco, problems of development sites prevented the building of its 1,980 houses. But a MOA with the NHA will allow the Municipal Government to continue the project.

In the other Camotes towns, MOAs have also been signed between the NHA and the LGUs to transfer the funds to the local coffers so that the 275 units intended for Poro, 258 units for Tudela and 660 units for Pilar could be built.

Too cheap

The budget for each house is only P290,000, which is even below the low-cost housing standard of the Home Mutual Development Fund or Pagibig Fund, which is P450,000.

So Antiniero said the number one problem is the lack of interested developers. Hence, several public biddings conducted by the NHA were declared failures.

The NHA has three standard housing designs approved by the Department of Public Works and Highways as resilient houses to be adopted by developers. The sizes of the lots are 22 square meters, 24 square meters and 28.4 square meters. They must have easement of two meters in front of the house and one meter at the back.

With the house worth only P290,000, Antiniero said a developer is allowed to construct the one-storey structure with a high ceiling, but with only one bedroom on the ground floor because the area will also accommodate the living room, dining area and kitchen.

“What do you expect in a housing project for only P290,000? That’s why a project is also at the option of the beneficiary, who may extend a second floor and provide another one or two bedrooms (below the high ceiling),” Antiniero said.

Another problem is the difficulty in finding a housing site. While a lot may be of low price, if the terrain is challenging, it will be costly to develop it. The houses must also be close to basic utilities like water, power, commercial center, municipal hall and school.

“We have a hard time looking for a housing site that is at least five kilometers from basic utilities; otherwise, the beneficiaries will be reluctant to transfer their residence to the area,” Antniero said.

Protest

On Thursday, 50 members of Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) held a protest rally in Cebu City condemning President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to stop the release of P7.5 billion in funds for the construction of houses.

PMCJ Visayas coordinator Larry Pascua questioned why Duterte channeled P5 billion to the rehabilitation program for wartorn Marawi City.

He also asked the government to charge the constructions firms that won contracts from the NHA but failed to build a single house and the public officials who were remiss in their duties.

“We are looking for justice for the victims,” Pascua said.

The group urged the government to formulate a comprehensive strategy in responding to climate change.

Yolanda wrought havoc in the islands of Leyte, Northern Cebu and northwestern parts of the Visayas.