Block 27 settlers stay put

DESPITE an order to leave their temporary dwellings by June 30, 20 families are still staying put in Block 27 of the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City.

The area served as a temporary settlement of about 50 families whose houses along the Mahiga Creek were demolished last year.

The site has to be cleared so work on concreting the banks of the creek and dredging can start.

Alvin Santillana, operations chief of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council , said that the city government has been making adjustments the delayed the evacuation of more than 20 families living in Block 27 has been causing.

City Hall’s Dept. for the Welfare of the Urban Poor chief Collin Rosell said the relocation site of the remaining families in barangay Binaliw is still being readied.

Santillana earlier said the clearing of the mouth of the Mahiga Creek that includes Block 27 in front of the Cebu Port Authority building has to be done as soon as possible to mitigate floods, now that the rainy season is here. /Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao