Relocation sites sought for families

Landslides also hit the mountain barangay of Sirao, displacing families there. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

The Cebu City Council called on the National Housing Authority (NHA) to help identify relocation sites for residents in the mountain barangays of Sirao, Adlaon and Busay who were displaced by last month’s landslides.

In a privilege speech during last Tuesday’s session, Councilor Jerry Guardo recounted that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) already identified the areas in these barangays as vulnerable to landslides.

Based on records from the barangays and the MGB, Guardo said there are 13 households in Barangay Busay that need relocation along with 10 households in Barangay Adlaon and more than 40 households in Barangay Sirao.

In a visit to Barangay Busay last Saturday, Guardo said they found tension cracks in Sitio NHA that affected 13 households.

He said the MGB recommended the preemptive evacuation of the families pending their relocation.

Two weeks ago, Guardo said he also visited Barangay Adlaon with geologist Dennis Aleta of the MGB 7 who also recommended for the transfer of the families.

The MGB said the soil in Sitio Tabok II is easily saturated by rainfall.

City Councilor Jerry Guardo shows photos of the landslide in Sitio Garaje, Barangay Busay during a privilege speech in the City Council. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Guardo said the families were transferred to the barangay hall.

The council passed a resolution by Guardo asking City Hall’s Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) to provide stress debriefing to the affected families.

In Barangay Sirao, some families were also evacuated to Sitios Tawagan and Kan-irag due to landslides that damaged the concrete road there.

While the road had been fixed, there are still reported tension cracks in the area.

The council asked the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) to conduct a technical survey in Sitio Garaje in Barangay Busay to determine the exact area of a private property to be donated to the city.

The donation will allow the city to build a reinforced concrete retaining wall in the area, as recommended by structural engineers to prevent more landslides there.

In a related development, about P20,000 in cash assistance will be given to the 71 families affected by an ongoing road project in Barangay Duljo Fatima, Cebu City.

“I discussed with the mayor and proposed that instead of P12,000, we will give P20,000 to those who will voluntarily dismantle (their houses),” said Genevieve Alcoseba, chief of Cebu City Hall’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP).

Alcoseba said they will also relocate the families to the area that will be reblocked for the project. She said there are portions of the land that have been titled./with USJ-R Intern Delyne Marl A. Saragena