Monday, November 12, 2007 Private developer sees promise in 2 'unlivable' City Hall parcels By Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A PRIVATE developer has expressed interest to develop at least two of Cebu City Hall’s urban poor relocation sites that were among those deemed “unlivable.”
In its session last September, the City Council proposed to sell the “unlivable” and undeveloped properties to developers, just so the City can recover a portion of its investments and use the money to buy other lots.
The City Government has some 190,000 square meters of undeveloped land in hilly areas in five barangays, which were bought in 1997 to 2000.
Unoccupied properties are one of the reasons the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) cited why the City Government has not fully recovered the P428.4 million it invested in urban poor housing since 1993.
This is also the reason DWUP has a low collection efficiency. DWUP has only collected some P72 million of the total amount. Some P356.5 million has yet to be recovered.
Of almost 60,000 urban poor families intended as beneficiaries of housing programs, only 67 percent or 40,237 families have benefited from the project.
DWUP consultant Charmae Pyl Nercua said that Taft Property, Inc. will present before the Local Housing Board (LHB) its land development proposal for the Kapasar site in Tak-an, Barangay Budlaan.
Not one of at least 58,712 urban poor families has resettled in the site because the area was considered “unlivable”—forested, rocky or at least 30 degrees steep.
Taft Property also has a package proposal for land and housing development at the Dorado site in Barangay Talamban.
The real estate firm, Nercua said, is the first private developer to respond to the City Council’s proposal.
She said they considered the affordability of Taft Property’s offer for the housing beneficiaries, so that the package proposal is only for the Talamban site.
She said the company hopes to have the proposals accredited, in compliance with the law’s requirement to set aside 20 percent of real estate developments for socialized housing.
Agreements
Also, Nercua said the LHB expects to have at least 10 of 29 community associations sign agreements with the City before the year ends.
At least 37 more groups with expired contracts were told to renew their agreements with the City Government.
Nercua said the associations were prompt in responding to the LHB’s warning last September for them to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the City Government.
The associations were warned that if they fail to comply, they would have their rights forfeited or their amortization raised by 25 percent.
During the Sept. 7 session, Nercua told the council that the City can still recover its investment since six of seven idle lots can still be developed.
The City, though, will have to spend some P29 million to make these livable.
And to avoid buying properties that are difficult and expensive to develop, the council was told to set up guidelines for buying lots intended for urban poor housing projects.
Before buying any property, Nercua said the council should order an inspection to make sure that the lots are livable and can be developed at a minimal cost.
