Vans for child offenders’ quarters expected soon

The container vans that will serve as temporary living quarters for children in conflict with the law all over the province have been bidded and are expected to be delivered within this year.

In a conference with reporters, Vice Governor Agnes Magpale said that each legislative district will get one when the vans arrive in September. The container vans will be placed in strategic locations preferably near a police station and accessible to neighboring local government units.

The seven LGUs where the container vans will be installed have yet to be identified. However, the Provincial Board has given the governor the authority to sign the Memorandum of Agreement and the Deed of Donation for the LGUs.

The project cost for this acquisition is P4.2 million as shared by the head of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office in an earlier interview. Each van costs at least half a million pesos and has 10 to 12 beds and its own facilities like a comfort room.

Prior to this move, Magpale said that social workers had to bring children in conflict with the law to their own homes.

Aside from this, another center worth P15 million, still for children in conflict with the law, is set to be constructed in Naga City. This move is a joint project of the provincial government and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The said facility will be built in a Capitol-owned lot in Barangay Inayagan, City of Naga.

Capitol allocated P10 million while a P5-million counterpart will come from the DSWD. Magpale said that she intends to urge the project partners to speed up the project by utilizing first the budget allocated by the Capitol because it is ready. The financial counterpart from the DSWD will be used once it arrives.

She explained that there is a delay from the side of the DSWD because the funding came all the way from its national office. —

Ambrad/BRP

Lorraine Mitzi A.