A month after they lost their homes to a fire that hit Palma Street in barangay San Roque, Cebu City, families are still waiting for word from the Cebu City government on when they can rebuild their homes.
“No matter what happens, I want to go back to our old spot. I grew up there and I don’t want to leave that place,” 40-year-old Elmer Jerusalem said.
Jerusalem can’t work because he is epileptic. He’s single and lives with five other siblings.
They are among the 91 families still living in the Tanchan Building near the San Roque gym which is filled to capacity.
Tanchan was vacated after a fire two years ago. The building has no roof but families live in tents provided by the city government.
Homeless
They put canvass covers around it to serve as walls. When it rains, the area gets flooded. At least 278 families were left homeless by the August 8 fire.
While a handful of them left the evacuation sites, most of them still remain, hoping they could rebuild their homes.
But with Cebu City Hall’s plans to reclaim the three-meter easement from the waterway along the fire site and to restore the road along the other side, only 65 families can go back.
Relocation site
City Hall finished clearing the area and is finalizing its re-blocking. Collin Rosell, chief of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) said each family will get 12-19 square meters each.
City Administrator Lucelle Mercado said the city will set a date for the other families to visit the relocation areas in barangays Binaliw or Guba.
In sitio Warwick Barracks, barangay Ermita fire victims celebrated the Sept. 8 birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary with pink, white and blue balloons that bore the messages “Justice for Warwick Barracks Small Vendors” and “A prayer for Mama Mary.”
Emalyn Aliviano, spokesperson of the urban poor group Kilusan, said they are supporting the demand of the Warwick Barracks Stall Owners and Livelihood Association, Inc. (WABSOALAI) to allow them to rebuild their stalls in lot 931 after a fire hit the area and displaced the vendors last January.
The Cebu City government is entertaining offers from investors to develop lot 931 into a heritage site. /With a report from Correspondent Melissa Q. Cabahug
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