Cebu City councilors were open to the proposal to re-block and decongest the 79 fire-prone areas in the city but raised concern over the high cost of implementing the project and the protests the city would face from residents it would displace.
Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak and Association of Barangay Council (ABC) president Philip Zafra said the proposal would not only require huge funds to relocate those who could not be accommodated in the re-blocked zones but would also require intensive consultations with the affected communities.
“Sa laktod, dili ingon ana kadali ang maong lakang (In other words, this is not an easy project to take on),” said Tumulak.
Tumulak, who chairs the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CCDRRMC), said he fully agreed that these congested areas are fire hazards and needed to be re-blocked but he also believed it could not be done unless the affected residents would be given acceptable relocation sites.
The city government, he said, might need to prepare billions of pesos just to buy and develop the lots for the relocation of the affected residents.
But before the city government could agree to take on such a huge project, Tumulak said the Cebu City Fire Department should first submit a report about the fire-prone areas in the city that could be thoroughly studied by the city officials.
Zafra, the village chief of Tisa, said the move was actually in line with the thrust of Mayor Michael Rama to re-block fire–prone areas before any major fire incident could happen. However, he said, the project would first require consultations with village officials, public hearings with various stakeholders and actual surveys to come up with a master list of affected families.
Zafra said he would be willing to ask for support from other barangay officials but added that even he knew that the plan would be difficult to implement.
“It will be tough. Considering that it will affect many houses, (providing them with relocation will) entail bigger amount. But as to the cooperation of the barangays, we are willing,” he said.