Mahiga evacuees told to leave this week

The  24 families taking temporary shelter  in block 27 of the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City have until the end of the month to move out.

The city-owned lot has to be  cleared  for dredging work at the mouth of the creek, said Alvin Santillana of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.

The shelter is located in front of the  Cebu Port Authority (CPA) office.

“Occupants will have to move out. They may be thinking that they can stay permanently. It will only add to the city’s headache if they  start to think that way,” said Mayor Michael Rama.

Rama yesterday asked Santillana to make sure the  city lot is vacated the soonest possible time.

The mayor said that he will  be meeting with members of the city’s disaster group to check on their preparations for the rainy season.

Santillana said that of the 24 families who stay in Block 27, 16 were   among the families whose houses were demolished along the Mahiga creek in 2011 while the eight others were dislocated  from J. de Vera Street.

They occupy tents  provided by the  city government along with free water and power.

They were given options to avail of the city’s Balik Probinsya program where they would  be given fare and pocket money to go back to their hometowns or provinces.

They could also find their own place to rent or wait to relocated to the city’s designated relocation site in the mountain barangay of Budlaan.

“The notice for them to vacate their temporary shelter areas was given last year, but they still have not complied,” he said.

The city government, Santillana said, will have to remove the water and power  connections  within the week to force them to vacate the area.

“We can’t undertake dredging or desilting if there are people living there because it would be dangerous,” he isa.d

He said that the city has to hasten its dredging work of waterways to prevent flooding  during the rainy season. /Edison A. delos Angeles, Correspondent