Lorega to be consulted in housing project

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Council has requested two government offices to consult and include the Lorega Barangay Council in all aspects of housing projects involving the informal settlers at the old Lorega cemetery.

With the measure passed last Wednesday, the National Housing Authority and the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor will directly coordinate with the Lorega barangay council in relation to the NHA-PAF 3 project, two four-story buildings worth P87 million that would serve as relocation site for those dwelling in danger zones.

 "Since the project will be in the old Lorega cemetery where, at present, there are also informal settlers, it is imperative that the barangay local government unit be amply represented and participate in all project activities," Councilor Alvin Dizon said.

 Dizon, committee on housing chairperman, and who also authored the measure said this is to ensure that all issues and concerns, especially of the informal settlers in the cemetery, will be properly addressed.

 He said it is important to actively involve key stakeholders in the project implementation and monitoring to properly address issues and concerns related to the said development while waiting for the review and finalization of the technical plans from NHA.

To recall, late last year the city council authorized Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to enter into and sign a Memorandum of Agreement with NHA for the city to avail the P87 million from NHA's Poverty Alleviation Fund. Meanwhile, the city will also set aside more than P10 million as counterpart amount for the site development.

The two buildings will be constructed on a portion of a 9,332-square-meter cemetery lot and includes land improvements like a concrete road and a path walk; underground drainage and culverts; collective septic vaults for sewerage treatment; water system, including an overhead tank and rainwater catchment tank; and electrical facilities with individual metering for each dwelling unit.

The four-story buildings would be named "One Plumeria Residences," a name derived from the flowers that grow abundantly in the area.

The buildings will have a total floor area of 2,880 square meters and would comprise 87 dwelling units, each at 25.5 square meters in floor area, to accommodate 174 families.

It is considered as a concrete model of the city's reformed socialized housing program, which aims to transform urban poor communities to aspiring sectors of society.

The city's reformed socialized housing program involves the establishment of relocation sites on or away from the present location of informal settlers living areas affected by infrastructure development or living in danger zones such as, creeks, riverbanks, landslide-prone areas, among others. (FREEMAN)