MASBATE CITY:
A P280-million housing project intended for
1, 400 families living in “danger zones” in this capital city is underway.
The city
government provided 15ha of government-owned, roadside land in Barangay
Maingaran as counterpart for the project, which is funded and supervised by the
national government through the National Housing Authority (NHA).
Engr Alberto
Perfecto, NHA regional manager in Bicol, told Bicol Mail that the project is
primarily intended to relocate informal settlers in Barangay Kinamaligan, who
had been living in the shoreline and over the sea, which had been deemed danger
zones.
“The
government is prioritizing Masbate because it’s one of the poorest provinces
that need immediate response, based on the assessment by the Presidential
Management Staff,” said Perfecto.
He said the
project should relocate families living in danger zones to safer grounds.
The
memorandum of agreement between the NHA and the city government on the project
was signed on June 18.
The first
phase of the project would start right after the bidding process, which would
determine the rightful developer, or
sometime in October this year, said Alberto.
To be
implemented in four phases, the housing project is expected to be completed before
the end of 2013, according to Alberto.
Phase 1 and
2, which cost P56M each, are for building roadways, and drainage and water
systems. Phase 2 and 3, which have a combined cost of P168M, are for the
construction of 1, 400 houses.
Added
facilities will be a market, a school site, and a park. The NHA, according to
Mayor Socrates Tuason, also pledged to provide livelihood assistance “when
necessary".
Tuason, in
his state of the city address on July 9, thanked President Aquino for the
housing project.
The project,
according to Tuason, also will benefit informal settlers and those living in
the danger zones in the villages of Nursery, Bagumbayan, Espinosa, Ibingay,
Centro, Bapor, and Tugbo, although Kinamaligan residents would be prioritized.
Coastal
Kinamaligan is one of the largest villages in Masbate City with a population of
at least 5,071.
Many of its
residents have been living in stilt houses erected on Masbate Bay and without
power or water supply. – Bicol Mail
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