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Thursday, June 08, 2006
Mayor seeks more lands for NorthRail settlers
By Reynaldo G. Navales
MABALACAT Mayor Marino Morales on Wednesday called on the National Government to provide additional lands for settlers who will be affected by the construction of the NorthRail Transit System.
Morales said that the 40-square meter per housing unit being allotted to some 6,000 settlers in Barangay Atlu Bola here is just "too small" for a single family.
Most of the would-be settlers are asking the government, particularly the National Housing Authority (NHA), to increase the land area of the housing units to 100 square meters to approximate those housing units constructed in three resettlement centers in the town.
Morales said the NHA has already acquired a 32-hectare land in Barangay Atlu Bola for the resettlement of thousands of families living along the path of the NorthRail transit system here and in the City of San Fernando.
He said the settlers need bigger space to live comfortably in, noting that the 32 hectares is not sufficient to accommodate about 6,000 families.
He also urged the Municipal Council to come up with a resolution in support of the settlers, in an attempt to increase the land area in the barangay.
The Municipal Council resolution will then be endorsed to the Provincial Board (PB) and the Pampanga Mayor's League (PML).
The NHA has another relocation site in Barangay Calulut in Angeles City for those who will be relocated from the railroad tracks in the City of San Fernando.
The mayor said that the 40 square meters housing unit will be amortized by beneficiaries at P200 per month for 25 years.
He said that to facilitate the speedy completion of the project, the Local Inter-Agency Council (Liac) invited utility firms such as Pampanga Electric Cooperative (Pelco) 2 and Mabalacat Water District (MWD) for a meeting. These firms will provide safe potable electric lines and water for use by the settlers.
The utility firms are supportive of the government project and this would avoid delays in electric connections and water supply, according to Morales.
MWD chairman Diosdado Pangilinan said they will "provide water supply for the project and will deliver safe, potable and affordable water to family-beneficiaries."
Morales said the availability of affordable housing units to railway squatters will be the present administration's move to empower and uplift the socio-economic stature of the people.
The ownership of these dwellings would create a great difference in the lives of poor railway squatters while their relocation would even provide them with livelihood opportunities, he said.
He also said the resettlement of railway squatters in a pollution-free environment will be provided with all amenities provided for under Presidential Decree (PD) 965 and Batas Pambansa (BP) 220.
According to him, the housing project manifests the poverty alleviation program specified in the 10-point agenda of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Morales said an access road will also be built to serve the beneficiaries in traveling between their homes and McArthur Highway as they go about with their lives.
(June 8, 2006 issue)
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