Audit body to inspect city’s relocation sites

The Commission on Audit will be looking into the reports that the lots bought by the Cebu City government for the relocation of the displaced settlers are not livable.

Lawyer Collin Rosell, head of the Division of the Welfare for the Urban Poor(DWUP), said he received a letter from COA asking them to visit the lots to verify the reports.

Rosell said out of the more than a hundred lots that the city government owns, only 10 are habitable because most of the lots are in the hinterlands of Cebu City and lack site development like drainage and water system.

“Before COA only reads the document, now they will conduct an ocular visit at the lots so that questions can be raised,” Rosell told Cebu Daily News.

Rosell said the lots could be used as relocation sites for the displaced settlers along the Mahiga Creek but the city will have to spend millions for the site development.

The city is planning to develop a better housing programs for displaced residents. Mayor Michael Rama will meet with Vice President Binay today in Manila to discuss housing programs for the city.

A local organization, the Pagtambayayong Inc., has been active in its housing programs for the city’s urban poor.

However, its head, Francisco Fernandez, recently filed administrative and civil cases against Rama for not giving financial assistance to the settlers of the Mahiga Creek who were affected by the clearing operations.

Fernandez said despite the dispute, he has no personal issues against Rama.

Rosell, however, said Pagtambayayong and the city government of Cebu have no Memorandum of Agreement. /Correspondent Fatrick R. Tabada