Council to ask NHA to suspend Carreta lot demolition

THE Cebu City Council wants the National Housing Authority (NHA) to put on hold the demolition of houses of people living at lower and upper Carreta until they clarify the issue of land ownership there.

The council agreed to meet with NHA officials and the city’s Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) to discuss the plight of the occupants in an executive session scheduled on July 23.

“The NHA should refrain from implementing any demolition on upper and lower Carreta pending the conduct of the executive session,” Councilor Sisinio Andales said during the council’s June 11 session.

Officials of the Upper Carreta Homeowners Association wrote Andales last June 3 to seek assistance on the demolition.

A copy of their letter was discussed during the council’s June 11 session.

Homeowners led by their president Rhodora Casas Pijls claimed to be beneficiaries of the expropriated lot that they now occupy which is being claimed by the NHA.

But Pijls’ letter failed to specify how big the disputed area is and how many families will be affected by the demolition threat.

The Warwick fire victims who now occupy block 27 at the Reclamation Area appealed for an extension of their stay until they can build their new homes in Budlaan, the city’s designated relocation site.

Some of the affected families visited Budlaan yesterday to start clearing their designated relocation site.

The 72-hour notice for them to vacate block 27 lapsed yesterday but they continue to occupy the area as of last night.