THE Local Housing Board chaired by Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar on Monday, March 3, formally approved the Local Shelter Plan, a five-year plan that serves as the blueprint or guidelines of the city government in addressing the housing backlog, which now stands at 20,971.

In terms of land property, the city has a backlog of 163 hectares of land that will serve as resettlement and relocation sites.

Salazar convened the Housing Board Monday to tackle the provisions of the shelter plan which has been a subject of a series of meetings and consultations with concerned groups and agencies.

She said the plan identifies areas in this city for relocation, community mortgage program, land tenural assistance program, and for joint venture agreement, which is a local government tie up with the national government housing projects.

She said that it also covers areas for housing programs to be undertaken by non-government organizations.

She said the shelter plan will be presented to the City Development Council (CDC) for approval and funding allocation.

From the CDC, the document will be forwarded to the City Council for approval. (SunStar Zamboanga)