Easement clearing ops: Cebu City eyes buying container vans as shelter for displaced residents
A resident looks at personnel from the CCDRRMO, PROBE, and DPWH dismantle illegal structures along the banks of Kinalumsan River in Brgy. Duljo Fatima, Cebu City on August 8. 2022 CDN Digital Photo | Morexette Marie B. Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu City Government is planning to buy container vans that will be transformed into temporary shelters for the hundreds of individuals affected by the ongoing clearing operations on the city’s easement zones.
Lawyer Gerry Carillo, chairperson of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CCDRRMC), said on Monday, August 15, 2022, that they are eyeing using a five-hectare land on South Road Properties (SRP) as a temporary relocation site.
On the site, Carillo said they have planned to place 200 container vans which will function as temporary houses for the families who will be affected by the city’s intensified clearing operations.
The city has set aside a total of P60 million for the construction of the temporary relocation site in SRP, including the purchase of the 200 container vans.
The proposal was supposed to be set in motion during the first half of this year before the clearing operations officially began.
However, the May 2022 National and Local Elections disallowed local governments from releasing any funds in the months leading to Election Day, said Carillo.
“Among paspasan ang bidding nga ipahigayon, nag-allocate nata og kwarta para sa container van but ang challenge there ang bidding nga pagahimoon”, he explained.
Aside from a relocation site, the city is also considering entering into a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement to erect medium-rise buildings that will house the displaced individuals.
The city government started dismantling illegal structures along Cebu City’s major waterways last August 8, with the banks of Kinalumsan River in Barangays Mambaling and Duljo Fatima.
They have identified at least 2,000 illegal structures, most of which are residential ones, that have encroached on the city’s tributaries and other easement zones.
In the meantime, the residents affected by the recent clearing operations in Kinalumsan River are temporarily staying in public schools within the city.
/bmjo
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