Monday, March 10, 2008 Rehab center for handicaps to get P1.5M fund from Lapu-Lapu
LAPU-LAPU City prepares P1.5 million for one year operation of a rehabilitation center for handicaps to be set up by a foreign funded non-government organization in the city this year.
The Danish Society of Polio Accident Victims in Holland offers to share the operational cost of the center, which will cater children 0 to 14 years old, until 2010. After that, the City needs to safeguard P500,000 a year from its annual budget to sustain the center’s operation including salaries and allowance of its personnel and the needed medicine and equipment.
There are no figures of children with disability available, but Mayor Arturo Radaza sees the project beneficial, though, costly since the City is tied with so many projects and yet they are not paid of taxes by the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) and the Philippine Export Zone Authority (Peza).
Taxes
“Ato lang agwantahon kay luoy man sab atong mga handicap. Pero maayo ta ug mobayad na sila sa ilang buhis (We’ll just bear with it as we can’t just disregard our children with disability. But I hope they will pay their taxes already) ,” he said of the two government agencies.
Representatives of Katipunan ng May Kapansanan sa Pilipinas Inc. (Kampi) explained to the City Council in its session the other day the benefits of the program dubbed as “Breaking Barriers of Children,” which has also been accepted by selected local government units in Luzon.
Kampi’s suggestion to convert the old Kalinga building in Barangay Mactan into a rehabilitation center also requires the City to allocate P1 million to renovate the structure.
The organization drafted a tripartite memorandum of agreement (MOA) to include Barangay Mactan as the third party signatory being the owner of the building upon the city councilor’s suggestion.
Vice Mayor Mario Amores said the City’s share of the center’s operational cost next year will go down to P286,000, and P238,000 by 2010.
“We don’t know how much is the share from the Danish group, but during the three-year transition period those are our estimated counterpart,” he said adding that if Holland completely abandons the project after 2010 the City’s sole obligation for the center is P500.000 a year. (AIV)
