Sunday, March 30, 2008 Work on socialized housing sites plods on, amid soaring lot prices
PRE-PROCLAMATION activities for socialized housing sites in Cebu City are “moving at a snail’s pace,” delaying the chances of beneficiaries to acquire the land.
In the meantime, development around the areas is surging, causing prices of lots to soar, even as the National Government has failed to set aside any budget allocation for it.
This is among the concerns that settlers of proclaimed socialized housing sites in Cebu City identified, as they celebrated the 16th anniversary of Republic Act 7279, the Urban Development and Housing Act.
Sun.Star Cebu reported last month that seven years after President Arroyo proclaimed several areas in Cebu City as socialized housing sites, “not a single lot” has been distributed to the beneficiaries.
And no budget has been set aside for the pre-proclamation activities like a survey, re-blocking, beneficiaries screening, subdivision plan approval, home lots division, and lot distribution in Apas, Labangon, Duljo-Fatima, Sambag I, Sambag II, Carreta and Lahug.
In a collated “general issues identified for all proclaimed lots in Cebu City,” the urban poor complained that not one beneficiary has received a title.
Among the beneficiaries’ requests is for the City Government to allocate a budget to develop one to two sites a year, and to explore the possibility of a packaged land and housing program.
They also asked for livelihood programs and transportation for sites inaccessible to public transport like those in Barangays Pit-os, Budlaan and Lahug.
Presidential Proclamation 409 declared “certain parcels of land situated in Barangay Apas, Cebu City” as socialized housing sites under Republic Act 7279.
The 1,200 beneficiaries have asked that the land title, which is with the Central Command and the Capitol, be turned over to the National Housing Authority (NHA).
Those occupying the Barangay Sambag II lots, on the other hand, have asked the NHA to finalize the lot price by next month, and for the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) to release the authority to sell by June.
The Department of Health (DOH) already turned over the titles to the NHA, which has yet to set the lot price.
Vice President Noli de Castro, guest speaker in yesterday’s gathering, said he already told NHA General Manager Federico Laxa to approve the lowest possible price.
Meanwhile, Duljo-Fatima beneficiaries are asking for re-blocking and a survey to come up with a subdivision plan, with beneficiary screening and lot price finalization as the next steps.
PP 278 paved the way for the beneficiaries to own the lots they are occupying after it excluded them from the coverage of Proclamation 200-A S 1967, which “reserved (the land) for national improvement purposes.”
De Castro told the NHA to hurry up with the consultation for the re-blocking.
For the Lot 110 beneficiaries of Barangay Carreta, the DOH failed to hand over the title because it was allegedly lost.
They asked that the disposal of the lots to qualified beneficiaries be made before the year ends.
De Castro told them to apply for the reconstitution of the lot title. (RHM)
