Mahiga settlers seek transfer to upland barangay

FAMILIES who continue to occupy shanties along the Mahiga Creek in barangay Mabolo asked the Cebu city government to acquire lots in the mountain barangay of Binaliw for a relocation site through the city’s specialized housing program.

“We already visited all the vacant home lots of the old relocation sites of Cebu City but we all find them more dangerous than our present dwellings along the riverbank easement,” said a letter signed by presidents of the urban poor associations in sitios upper and lower Lahing-Lahing, lower Sindulan and Magtalisay all in barangay Mabolo.

Their Dec. 5 letter addressed to Mayor Michael Rama was sent through the Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) head Collin Rosell.

During their Dec. 14 session, the City Council referred concerns of the Mabolo creekside residents to DWUP and the Local Housing Board.

Elbetha Caube (Sindulan president), Aneglito Miega (upper Lahing-Lahing president), Estrella Maraba (Magtalisay president) and Hemocejie Pabilic (lower Lahing Lahing) told Rama in their letter that they already received a notice from the city’s demolition team, asking them to vacate their dwellings.

They asked the city government to help them acquire a 21,160 sq. meter lot in Binaliw for relocation site.

The residents said in their letter that Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo assured them of his support in partnership with the Cebu City government.

The association presidents said the lot owner was willing to dispose his property for P600 per sq. meter or a total of P12.7 million.

The property may also be bought at P5,000 per sq. meter or a total of P10.6 million, they said.

Meanwhile, the city council passed a resolution by Councilor Alvin Dizon asking DWUP to furnish them a report on the relocation of families displaced from the clearing and dredging of the Mahiga Creek.

They also wanted to know how DWUP intends to use a P78-million loan from the National Housing Authority (NHA) intended for the relocation of families from danger zones. Correspondent Edison delos Angeles