Editorial: After the fire

Sunday, July 17, 2011

THE DAY after a fire reveals the worst: for victims, of how little they saved or have to move on; for community leaders, of how deficiencies replicate disasters.

The multiple fires that struck different communities in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue last week resurface the same old urban traps: narrow roads that limit the access of firemen and fire trucks to the site of the fire; electrical misuse that also covers illegal tapping of electricity connection; and insufficient supply of water in fire trucks and some firemen’s lack of familiarization with the location of fire hydrants.

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In the wake of the July 9 fire in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City, Mayor Michael Rama asked the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to explain their deficiencies in handling the two-hour fire that displaced 193 families or 1,200 individuals, according to Princess D. Felicitas’ July 11 report in Sun.Star Cebu.

The CCDC and the BFP must not only account for their performance in last week’s fire alarms. These entities should improve their future efficiency in disaster prevention and management.

Sustainable human habitats

However, Rama should go beyond ordering the implementation of reblocking and road restoration to help firefighters reach the fire scene without delay.

According to Sun.Star Cebu’s July 15 report, the mayor gave the prerequisite that a City Hall team and barangay officials should consult residents to clear and widen roads before housing materials are released to fire victims in Punta Princesa and Tejero.

The involvement of City Councilor Alvin Dizon, chairman of the Cebu City Council’s committee on housing, and Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias, chairman of the council’s committee on infrastructure, is crucial for the team composed of eight City Hall offices working with the affected barangays.

Although the immediate goal is to improve barangay access in anticipation of fires and other disasters, city and barangay officials should use the opportunity to look into and come up with solutions addressing other concerns of urban communities, aside from disaster preparedness.

The relocation needs of the individuals and families displaced by last week’s fires underscore the need for participatory planning in realizing sustainable human habitats.

Beyond housing

“A sustainable human habitat is a more comprehensive approach in solving the seemingly intractable urban poverty,” wrote Dr. Billy Tusalem and Dr. Nestor Abdon, Jr. in their paper, “Maximizing Urban Poverty Housing Solutions for Greater Results,” which documents the experiences of stakeholders of the San Carlos Integrated Rural Development Program (SCIRDP) for the 2nd Asia Pacific Housing Forum held in Manila on Sept. 7-9, 2009.

As documented by Tusalem and Abdon, the Sustainable City Project, undertaken by the San Carlos Government and the JF Ledesma Foundation Inc., involved the local government, nongovernment organizations, community institutions and people’s associations. “Multisectoral collaboration is utilized as an avenue for people’s participation in creating sustainable habitat,” wrote Tusalem and Abdon.

Collaboration is achieved through a Local Participatory Planning Process to address key concerns of residents and officials, from community-level land use and housing solutions to resource and management and disaster coordination.

Aside from mobilizing community resources, this consultative and participatory approach ensures people’s participation as the residents themselves express their needs and are involved in coming up with solutions.

The San Carlos experience is instructive for local governments not only because the initiative won awards, including the “Galing Gawad Pook Award” for excellence in local governance for its housing accessibility and the Dubai International Award for Best Practice to Improve the Living Environment.

“Primarily there is a need to look into the social dimension of human habitat,” writes Tusalem and Abdon. “Shelter delivery is not a stand-alone activity devoid of any effort to meet other basic necessities… The attainment of a sustainable city and sustainable housing solutions is possible only through a collaborative network of relevant government agencies, civil society organizations, community-based organizations, and technical experts.”