Living dangerously: No relocation site yet for Talisay

FOR THE BIG BOYS. Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III (above) applauds as Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, chief of police of Cebu, hands over a set of bomb protection suit to members of the provincial SWAT team before the start of a shooting competition among police officers at the CPRA Firing Range in barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA)

About 3,000 people living in disaster-prone areas in Talisay City have been told to move to safer ground but where that is  exactly, City Hall couldn’t say.

The families are scattered in areas that are prone to landslides, flooding or storm surges.

While some have been told to  evacuate for now to the market building in Lagtang, there’s no relocation site ready for transfer, said Vince Monterde, head of the Talisay City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

Last week, some ten families living at the foot of a mountain in barangay Manipis were left homeless after their houses were badly damaged by a landslide triggered by heavy rains.

The families refused to vacate their houses despite incessant requests from the city government, said Monterde.

But Monterde admitted that Talisay City has no place to relocate the  families and doing its best to find one.

“Wala gyud lagi mi relocation site. Mobalhin na lang sila sa ilang mga paryente sa mga safe nga lugar,” he said.

(We don’t have a relocation site. It’s better for them to seek shelter with  relatives who live in a safe place)

However,  evacuation centers are always ready for occupancy during calamities.

“We activate all covered courts and public schools to be used as evacuation sites during disasters,” he said.
Talisay city has   18 public schools but some  are are also  located in disaster-prone areas .

“The elementary school in  Manipis is prone to landslide. The rest of the schools, like in barangay Cansojong, are flood-prone,” said Monterde.

Mayor Johnny de los Reyes plans to build a P7 million school building in sitio Campinsa, a few kilometers from Manipis proper, but residents objected to the plan because they found the place “really far” from their source of livelihood.

Instead, the city has allotted a budget of P3 to P5 million for riprapping around the school.  Bidding  will be conducted next month while the project is seen to be completed in February 2015.

The city government also plans to build an evacuation center at the 5-hectare Maghaway Detention and Rehabilitation Center.