Bridge repair to also displace 81 families in Lapu-Lapu City

More families will be losing their homes, this time in Lapu-Lapu City, when the repair of the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge will begin in earnest.

At least 81 houses of informal settlers under the bridge in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City will have to be demolished when the bridge goes under repair, said Mayor Paz Radaza.

Radaza, in a press conference yesterday, said the affected settlers were notified several times since last year to vacate the place because the city plans to develop it into a Senior Citizen’s Park, but they refused to leave. With the bridge’s repair, the settlers no longer have a choice but to leave, she added.

Each family would be given relocation assistance to allow them to rebuild their houses elsewhere.

Unlike in Mandaue City, however, where some 50 families of informal settlers affected were offered a relocation site, no such provision would be given for those in Lapu-Lapu City.

Edna Estinar, 62, who has been living under the Lapu-Lapu side of the bridge for about 30 years, asked what would they do with housing materials if they have no place to transfer to.

The Department of Public Works and Highways Central Visayas (DPWH 7) Regional Director Ador Canlas, in an earlier statement, said the agency has no budget to relocate or provide assistance to  the families affected by the bridge’s repair.

But Pajo Barangay Captain Junard Chan said it would be difficult to make the settlers leave unless they are given a relocation site.

Chan said he would  recommend to DPWH to instead place safety nets at the bridge’s underside to protect the people and houses from falling debris.

He said he was also willing to allow the informal settlers to stay at the barangay gymnasium during the day and just return to their houses when the repair work has ended for the day.

The bridge’s repair work meant to replace the concrete flooring began on Feb. 8 and to be completed in six months. But it was stopped only after two days amid the horrendous traffic that the bridge’s closure has caused and after it surfaced that utilities’ lines — water, electricity and telecommunication — that were run under the bridge, would need to be protected first before the repair can start.

Moreover, it was also only recently that  it came to light that there are actually families living under the bridge that could be harmed by the repair work.