Next QC demolitions: Transmission tower slums

The Quezon City government is set to relocate informal settler families from areas around power transmission towers, as it will receive additional funds for this undertaking from the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

The local government and the NGCP entered into an agreement on Tuesday for the latter to turn over P24 million in assistance for the relocation of residents in Barangay Baesa and Sangandaan.

Mayor Herbert Bautista and NGCP chief administrative officer Anthony Almeda signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the fund transfer.

NGCP will be upgrading the transmission line under the San Jose Del Monte-Quezon 230kV Line 3, which passes through Baesa and Sangandaan.

According to the agreement, there are seven transmission tower areas in the two barangays that must be cleared of structures and other obstructions for the repair and rehabilitation works to begin.

The area to be cleared is 40 meters by 40 meters per tower.

The MOA also states that the city government must relocate the families and demolish the structures within six months of the turnover of the fund.

Permanent fences

Unused funds may be used to relocate those also within the right of way corridor of NGCP’s transmission lines and facilities.

Permanent perimeter fences will be constructed by the NGCP in the tower sites to prevent informal settlers from reentering these areas.

The agreement cited a survey conducted by the NGCP and the QC Housing and Community Development and Resettlement Department, which found that an unspecified number of informal settler families had long been occupying the tower sites.

Their homes would be “directly affected” by the transmission line upgrading project, it noted.

On April 19, a fire broke out in a slum area that had formed around a transmission tower in Muntinlupa City, causing the tower to collapse.
No one was reported killed or injured, but the collapse caused the temporary closure of the Alabang viaduct to traffic.