TO make the lives of the victims of tropical storm (TS) Sendong more adaptable to community living, the City Government is poised to transform relocation sites (RS) into townships where the inhabitants could have direct access to basic services.
Mayor Oscar Moreno said the planned development is geared toward improving the living condition of the beneficiaries of the housing program of the government after they were rendered homeless in the aftermath of Sendong.
He said the beneficiaries should be in an atmosphere of community living rather than like refugees in shelters.
“It is not easy to be displaced and relocated in a strange environment. We have to consider the beneficiaries had a hard time coping and adjusting after the devastation. And to create a township where they can have access to services like in a regular barangay is already an improvement,” Moreno said.
Close to 5,000 families were rendered homeless after the devastation of Sendong. Houses near river and waterways were washed out, damaged and rendered inhabitable in barangays Macasandig, Consolacion, Camaman-an, Iponan, Carmen, and Puntod.
The City Government said that Calaanan RS, which has more or less 3,000 beneficiaries, is a priority area that will soon have a park development, day care center, health center, school, house of worship and security force.
Other areas in barangays Pagatpat, Indahag phase 1 and 2, Balubal phase 1 and 2, and Camaman-an are thoroughly evaluated since these RS are already near the facilities of the barangay.
In another development, the City Shelter and Housing Development and Multi-Sectoral Task Force said that most of the RS have electricity and that arrangements with the Cagayan de Oro Water District is underway for the houses to have individual waterline.