Housing units to rise in Lorega cemetery

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government will soon start clearing Barangay Lorega Cemetery to give way for the construction of a three-storey housing project that will benefit the urban poor residents of the city.

The city council approved last Friday the P641,582 budget for the clearing operation which will cover the labor, rentals of the equipment and the cost of removing the cadavers and remains.

The Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor, which prepared the scope of works and estimates, says that the operation will immediately start after the bidding process. The bidding however is yet to be set.

The clearing operation, which is expected to last for one month, will affect at least 500 families and 329 illegal structures built within the cemetery. There are also 362 tombs that will be demolished. A bone chamber will be built within the area where the bones will be kept.

DWUP chief Danilo Gabiana said the clearing operation will be done by phase. He said, affected residents will not be relocated because they are among the intended beneficiaries of the housing project.

As soon as the clearing operation is done, the construction of the three-storey building with 180 residential units will start immediately. Former North District Rep. Raul Del Mar earlier donated P10 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund and another P2 million was donated by Action for Nurturing Children and Environment for the building construction.

This project is a joint undertaking of the city government, ANCE and Gawad Kalinga. The housing site will cover about 9,000 square meters of the Lorega cemetery but there is a plan to extend the project and construct another building that will accommodate more beneficiaries.

Once the project is finished, the city will prioritize those who are already living in the area to be the beneficiaries.

The city, however, during the time of then Mayor Tomas Osmeña, is against selling the units to the residents. Osmeña only wanted the beneficiaries to pay monthly rentals to the city. Former City Administrator Francisco Fernandez earlier said that P750 was initially discussed as the rental rate per month. It was not immediately learned if Mayor Michael Rama will adopt Osmeña’s position. (THE FREEMAN)