Friday, November 21, 2008 City wants to buy lot occupied by fire victims
CEBU City Hall is planning to negotiate with the Cabarrubias family of Barangay San Nicolas for the purchase of their property occupied by some 300 families whose houses were gutted by fire last Tuesday.
If the family allows the City to buy a portion or the entire 8,000-square-meter lot, City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said the displaced occupants will be allowed to own the lot through a socialized housing program.
He assured the families yesterday that until an ejectment case against them is filed and is won in court, the lot owner will not be allowed to evict them.
“The fire incident should not be made a reason not to allow the families to stay in the property. We already told the barangay officials that the fire victims will be allowed to move back in and to construct their houses again once they get the construction materials the City bought for them,” Carillo told reporters.
State of calamity
Some 300 families were left homeless after about 70 houses went up in smoke last Tuesday afternoon in Sitios Lupa, Bontores and Kamangahan in Barangay Basak San Nicolas.
The Cebu City Council has placed three Barangay Basak, San Nicolas sitios under a state of calamity.
The declaration paved the way for the City Government to tap its calamity fund to give food and material assistance to estimated 300 families.
City Councilors Gerardo Carillo and Eduardo Rama Jr. said the declaration was necessary to augment barangay funds used to help the victims.
Damage
The fire destroyed 100 houses in Sitios Lupa, Bontores, and Kamangahan.
Section 324 of the Local Government Code provides that five percent of the estimated revenue of the local government unit from regular sources should be set aside as lump sum appropriation for relief and rehabilitation works and services during calamities.
City Hall also made an emergency purchase of housing materials yesterday, which will be delivered and distributed to the affected families after 15 days.
Assistance
In the meantime, Carillo said, the families will be provided with tents to protect them from the heat during the day, or from the rain.
He said they will negotiate with the lot owner for the City to buy a portion of the property, if they are not willing to sell the whole lot.
He said a 300 to 500-square-meter lot would be enough for the 300 affected families, if the City can build a low-rise condominium in the area, a project that may also be undertaken by the National Home and Mortgage Finance.
If plans push through, the families can be beneficiaries of the socialized housing program of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor, which would sell the houses to them at a very low price, Carillo added. (LCR)
