’Sendong’ evacuees to spend 2 more months in tents

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Evacuees may have to spend two more months in  tent cities before they can move to their new homes, which are being built by the government.

Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez (Second District)said the construction of the houses for Sendong victims might be finished in February yet.

The houses are being built on a four-hectare lot in Barangay Gusa and on a 10-hectare area in Barangay Indahag.

Relocation sites for those who previously lived on the western bank of the Cagayan River have  also been identified in Barangays Lumbia and Calaanan, Rodriguez said.

The Jesuit-owned Xavier University had granted the government rights to its five-hectare property in Barangay Lumbia.

The Philippine Red Cross said it will build some 1,000 shelters in the five-hectare land donated by Xavier University. On Thursay, PRC chair Richard Gordon and Xavier University chairman Elpidio Paras led the groundbreaking rites at the resettlement site.

Gordon said this was the first effort from the private sector  in partnership with the PRC to build homes for families displaced by Sendong.

Gordon said PRC will build 1,000 shelters, initially, as soon as the land is ready with basic service facilities and provision for livelihood.

Conrad Navidad, shelter cluster facilitator at the DSWD command center at the Xavier University, said tents have been erected since Saturday at the relocation site in Barangay Lumbia.

For now, around 350 families can be accommodated at the relocation site. The DSWD and the city government will choose the families who will stay there. The families who are staying in public schools, as well as in danger zones like Isla de Oro and Barangay Cala-Cala will be given priority.

But Navidad said only two hectares of the XU-donated land will be allowed for occupancy for now.

He also said the evacuees were being consulted on their transfer to the relocation site. “The evacuees will not be forced to settle there if they do not wish to do so,” he said.

This week, the evacuees will be brought to the area for a “go and see” visit.

Cagayan de Oro City Councilor Nadya Emano said the city has also allocated nine hectares in Barangay Calaanan for the relocation of Sendong victims.

The property, she said, is part of 64 hectares that the city government bought in 1996 for its resettlement program.

Emano said a Filipino-Chinese businessman who wished to remain anonymous has offered to bankroll the building of 300 houses in Calaanan for Sendong victims.

In the meantime, Red Cross will put up tents on the same site for families sheltered in school buildings who have to move out due to the opening of classes this week.

With a report from JB R. Deveza, Inquirer Mindanao