SCAR OF WAR The government is preparing a rehabilitation plan for Marawi City after intense fighting between the military and Islamic State-inspired terrorists in the last four months left sections of the picturesque lakeside capital of Lanao del Norte province devastated. INQURIER file photo / JEOFFREY MAITEM
Some landowners in Marawi have raised the value of their lands as the government is looking for sites to build the housing units for the displaced residents of the war-torn city, an official said on Friday.
“[From]the previous market value [of] P500 per square meter, the asking price [now] reached P5,000 per square meter,” Adoracion Navarro, Undersecretary for Regional Development of National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said in a Bangon Marawi briefing in Malacañang.
Navarro said the land acquisition cost skyrocketed 10 times the usual rate.
“The assumed cost of land is 10 times the going rate, and that is because—that’s what being offered by the land owners in Marawi,” she said.
“So you see that there is already a speculative activity as a result of the armed conflict and as a consequence of, you know, the flurry of planning activities,” she added.
While Neda official said the spike in land acquisition cost was expected after a disaster, she said the government was careful in “ascertaining the amounts and locations” for the housing projects.
“That’s true in a post-disaster situation. There are stakeholders, even on the ground, who are taking advantage of the crisis situation,” she said.
“That’s why the government is being careful in ascertaining the amounts and locations of proposed different projects,” she added.
But Navarro said the practice was not yet widespread in Marawi.
The market value, depends on the negotiation. “Now, if there is a pronouncement from a government official that will effectively say that: “No, we won’t accept 10 times the former market value of the land in Marawi,” then that pronouncement of an official can be effective in sort of reducing the speculative activities,” he said.
“And I’m hoping that the Task Force Chair makes strong statements to address this,” he added.
Government officials had earlier said that the rehabilitation of Marawi was estimated at P72 billion. /jpv
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