Zambo mayor halts construction of houses pending probe into quality of materials

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has ordered a stop to the construction of houses under the Z3R (Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction) program after a section of a house being built collapsed last Sunday.

Assistant City Administrator Elmeir Apolinario told reporters Tuesday that the mayor had also ordered an investigation into reports contractors were using substandard materials in building new houses for thousands of people whose homes were destroyed during a month-long battle between government forces and disgruntled Moro National Liberation Front guerrillas last year.

Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle “Beng” Climaco-Salazar (left). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A portion of a house under construction on Lustre Street in Sta. Catalina village collapsed following strong wind on Sunday afternoon.

Al Indanan, National Housing Authority regional manager, denied allegations that substandard materials were used in the housing project.

Indanan told the Inquirer the house in question had been accidentally hit by a backhoe on Oct. 30 and collapsed only last Sunday.

Indanan said he had ordered the unit demolished and rebuilt, but workers failed to implement the demolition as Nov. 1 and 2 were holidays.

Indanan said the cost of the demolition and reconstruction will be shouldered by Bilrey Construction, the contractor for the project.

Of the 158 houses to be built at the Lustre Homeowners Subdivision, at least 57 are undergoing construction. Turnover of the housing units is scheduled next January.

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