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Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Relocation of 13,697 families along railways in early 2006
By Joel P. Mapiles
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Some 13,697 families living along the Philippine North Rail (PNR) properties in Pampanga are expected to be relocated early this year once construction of the double-track narrow gauge rail line from Apalit town to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) inside the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) starts.
Romuel Alimbuyao, assistant manager of the National Housing Authority (NHA) for Central Luzon, said the agency has already finished the family census of those who would be affected in the towns of Apalit, Minalin, Sto. Tomas and Mabalacat and in the cities of San Fernando and Angeles.
With the development, Alimbuyao said the NHA will be activating the Local Inter-Agency Committee (Liac), which will be tasked to conduct consultations and meetings among the local officials, non-government organizations (NGOs), religious sectors and informal settlers who are directly affected by the project.
Alimbuyao is hoping that the negotiations, consultations and the relocation of the families will be finished within six months.
He said in Bulacan, there are still 2,573 families who are not yet relocated by the NHA, while the clearing from the town of Bulacan to Malolos City of 12,878 families was already completed last year.
The NHA official said they are implementing the "in town" scheme wherein the resettlement sites in which the families will be resettled in are located within their town. He said the families were affected by the construction of the first phase of the project, which is the 32-kilometer double-track, narrow-gauge rail line from Caloocan City to Malolos City in Bulacan.
In 2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Administrative Order (AO) 111, which designated the NHA as the lead agency for implementing the rail-related resettlement program.
The NorthRail project is a major component of the "Strong Republic Transport System," the flagship infrastructure project of the Arroyo administration. The big-ticket venture is envisioned to provide a fast and reliable mass transport service for passengers and goods between Metro Manila and Central and Northern Luzon in order to spur the growth and development of the areas.
To ensure habitable and adequate relocation sites, Vice President Noli de Castro - who is also the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) - said he personally visits to the resettlement sites in Bulacan "almost every week to monitor the progress and to make sure that the well-being of the families are being looked after."
The Vice President said he is confident that the NorthRail project is on track, even as he appealed to local residents to help make it easier for the government to evict the railway informal settlers with minimal protests.
(January 4, 2006 issue)
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