Self-help gets P3M from City

Monday, November 22, 2010

SELF-HELP projects by urban poor homeowners’ associations will get P3.6 million under a resolution approved by the Cebu City Council.

The 48 approved projects include the construction and repair of multi-purpose halls, women’s livelihood centers, community stages, foot bridges, sheds and drainage canals.

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“These self-help projects will facilitate the provision of basic services that will directly benefit thousands of urban poor families,” said Councilor Alvin Dizon, who sponsored the resolution.

The council, in its session last week, also allocated P1 million for a study on the current conditions of all socialized housing projects the City Government funded in the different barangays.

This is in line with the council’s recent passage of City Ordinance 2254 or the Cebu City Shelter Framework Plan for 2011 to 2016, which provides guidelines and strategies for the implementation of urban poor and middle-class housing programs.

The ordinance states the City Government will update and consolidate its data on socialized housing projects and urban poor communities and beneficiaries in 2011. The data will include the master list of beneficiaries, land security and basic social services.

As to the self-help projects, these will be implemented in the different barangays,
including Duljo Fatima, Labangon, Quiot, Punta Prinsesa, Calamba, Guadalupe, Bulacao, Pasil, Pardo, Kalunasan, Buhisan, Capitol Site, Banawa, Inayawan, Kinasang-an, Mambaling, Lahug and Pit-os.

City Hall’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) has prepared the program of works and estimates (Powe) for the projects, which it will implement.

But Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa, during the council’s regular session last Friday, asked why DWUP has been making Powes, which is a duty of the City’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW).

“Wouldn’t they (DWUP) be losing focus? Instead of addressing the needs of the urban poor, time is taken away from them by just preparing Powes,” Abellanosa said.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao echoed the observation and asked if DWUP has the technical capability to prepare Powes in the first place.

Dizon explained the DWUP and DEPW have an internal agreement that the DWUP will help in preparing Powes, considering the lack of engineers in the engineering department.
He said these programs are prepared by DWUP’s civil engineers and still go through the engineering department for approval.

Apart from the self-help projects, Dizon said there’s also a need to “gather, update and consolidate data” on the socialized housing projects in the city.

“A study on the current housing program will show the gaps, weaknesses and problem areas as well as its strengths and opportunities, which will provide a clear picture on what needs to be done for the next three years,” the councilor said in the project proposal for the study.

Based on the project proposal, the funds for the research study will cover the honorarium of 15 enumerators and the research consultant, as well as the meals for the meetings and debriefing sessions and the purchase of office supplies.

The study seeks to assess the implementation of the socialized housing projects; check occupancy rates, particularly by the original beneficiaries; do an inventory of the basic services like roads, drainage, water and electricity; as well as identify the strengths and weaknesses of the project.

The study will be implemented by the committee on housing and the local housing board and will be conducted starting December this year up to September next year.

The P1-million allocation will be charged to the fifth supplemental budget for this year.