Tomas asks mayor: Where’s P78-M loan?

About P78 million offered by the National Housing Authority (NHA) has not been used yet by Cebu City Hall for  displaced urban poor families, Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district said.

The former mayor castigated  Mayor Michael Rama for failing to fully avail of the NHA offer to  help displaced families of Mahiga Creek and others scheduled for eviction along the riverbank.

Osmeña  said that out of the P100- million loan offered by NHA, only  P22 million was tapped so far for families earlier displaced from lower Carreta.

“I (arranged for) the money but it is the city that will identify where to use it,” said Osmeña.

The city’s demolition team has  asked families who were relocated from Mahiga Creek to Block 27 at the North Reclamation Area to vacate their temporary shelter.
Collin Rosell, head of the Department for the Welfare of Urban Poor, said the occupants are  given a maximum of one year to stay.

Those  who want to avail of the city’s socialized housing program may be relocated to a  site in the mountain barangay of Budlaan.

Rosell said the city  government will use  the P78 million from NHA for an urban poor condominium set to rise in a city-owned lot  near the Lorega cemetery.

This will be built beside  housing units built by Gawad Kalinga for  60 families affected by the clearing of the Lorega cemetery.

The condominium project is funded by former Rep. Raul del Mar who gave P10 million and a non-government organization, which gave P2 million.

Councilor Alvin Dizon who chairs the City Council’s housing committee, said the Budlaan relocation site is not fit for occupancy due to lack of development.

He said the city government could use the P78-million loan offer from NHA to develop Budlaan and other housing sites owned by the city.

“If the city availed of the P78 million, many more families would have agreed to move to the city’s relocation sites,” Dizon said.