City to give sites P25M boost

Funds to pay for roads, drains, other facilities in 13 relocation areas in 6 barangays

TO make these places more livable, the Cebu City Government will be spending P25 million for 13 site development projects on its relocation sites in six barangays.

These relocation sites are located in Barangays Budlaan, Labangon, Lorega, Pit-os, Talamban and Tisa.

The City’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) will implement the project, which is expected to benefit eight homeowners’ associations (HOA).

These include the United Communities HOA in Budlaan, Katipunan HOA in Labangon, Lorega HOA in Lorega, Urbanville HOA and Uppersights HOA in Pit-os, St. Michael HOA in Talamban, and Sunflower HOA in Tisa.

Based on the records of DWUP, the site development projects will include the construction of roads, perimeter fence, lined canal, retaining walls and drainage system.

If better relocation sites compel the transferred families to stay, that could make it easier for the City to clear danger zones like the banks of rivers and creeks. It would also clear urban properties of informal settlers and allow their commercial development.

The P25-million fund for the site development projects will be taken from the P871-million Annual Investment Plan, which forms part of the P5.2-billion budget of the City for this year.

The City Council, through a resolution filed by Councilor Alvin Dizon, has approved the site development projects during the council’s session last week. It has also been endorsed by the City’s Local Housing Board.

The City is said to start implementation of these projects before the year ends.

Dizon, who is the chairperson of the council’s com- mittee on housing, earlier stressed the need to develop the relocation sites of the city.

He said that urban poor families who are relocated usually refuse to stay in the area because these are not fully developed.

Most of the relocation sites in the city, the councilor said, lack roads and drainage systems.

In May last year, the Cebu City Council asked Mayor Michael Rama to immediately stop the clearing operations near waterways until the City has prepared a relocation site where the affected families may transfer.

Around the same time, the National Housing Authority had written to inform the mayor that City Hall was entitled to P78 million from the Poverty Alleviation Fund, which may be used for resettlement projects..