Children play in the area destroyed by fire which left several families homeless in Barangay Lawaan III, Talisay City last Christmas Eve.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO
FIRE victims in Sitio Caduldulan, Barangay Lawaan III, Talisay City will be allowed to rebuild their homes but the area will be reblocked to provide access to firetrucks.
The area will also be subdivided and the occupants will be allowed to amortize the cost of their respective lots.
“Privately-owned na siya. Ang usa sa mga tag-iya, si Mr. Suarez, gipa-subdivide na ang lote unya gipadata-datahan sa mga nagpuyo, (The lots are privately owned. One of the owners, a Mr. Suarez, had his lot subdivided and allowed the occupants to pay him on installment.) said Barangay Captain Delia Ybañez.
Ybañez clarified that there are also other owners of the area where the fire victims’ houses previously stood, but none of them has showed up yet.
“Tukod lang gyod gihapon kay wa man tay relocation site diri sa Talisay [City] para nila,” (They would still rebuild there because there is no relocation site for them here in Talisay City.) Ybañez told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.
“But of course, there will be a reblocking. I will not allow them to rebuild without reblocking because that’s the reason why the fire spread so fast,” Ybañez said in Cebuano.
The narrow roads leading to the fire site impeded firefighters from penetrating the area which in turn caused delay in controlling the fire.
Ybañez however said that they will first need to communicate with the owners of the lot before any plans for reblocking can be discussed.
Meanwhile, the Talisay City government will stop the distribution of food packs to the fire victims starting today.
“Ang sa LGU karon nalang kutob panihapon (Wednesday), three days sukad pagsunog,”(The LGU’s assistance will only be until dinner tonight (Wednesday), three days since the fire.) said Ybañez.
“But they were already given rice packs from the city and Congressman Samsam (Gullas) and perhaps the barangay administration will also give out some help,” Ybañez added.
The Cebu Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) had also augmented relief goods to the fire victims on December 25.
“We have given them rice packs, canned goods, utensils, sleeping mats and blankets, good for 87 families,” said Myra Tansingco, PSWDO Social Welfare Assistant.
Tansingco also clarified that their assistance to the fire victims is limited to augmentation, hence the the primary responsibility of assisting the fire victims is on the local government unit.
“That will depend on the communication of the social workers. We will augment if they have supplies shortage,” Tansingco added.
Ybañez said they cannot provide the residents’ request for portalets because there are no personnel to maintain it.
“We will just look for old comfort rooms and try to install toilet bowls so that they can use something,” Ybañez said.