AGENCIES concerned should settle first the assistance for families living under the Mandaue-Mactan Bridge or this may cause delays in the repair of the structure, a city official said.
Some of the structures housing 300 families under the bridge are set to be demolished because these will be affected by its rehabilitation. The rehabilitation is expected to cost P129.6 million.
Tony Pet Juanico, head of Housing and Urban Development Office (Hudo), said there are 53 structures that will be affected by the U-turn slot that will constructed under the bridge.
This is an increase from the 33 houses that were initially identified.
The number of houses increased because there are other families that lived five meters from the bridge’s sidewalks. They face risks of being hit by debris during construction.
After an inspection of the area under the bridge, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Jegma Construction and Hudo had a meeting last Friday to talk about the plans for the bridge, including the assistance for the families.
Appeal
Juanico said the City Government appealed to DPWH to provide financial assistance to the families, considering that the bridge rehabilitation project is under their office.
“They are the ones who should assist because this is a national project,” he said.
Juanico said the City and the DPWH had agreed on the assistance for the families during their meeting.
Juanico preferred not to disclose more details, saying he is still waiting for the response of the DPWH 7’s legal officer.
Meeting
Once the DPWH 7 legal office responds to Hudo, Juanico will call for a meeting with the City legal officer and the DPWH legal officer.
“We should settle first the assistance for the families because it may cause delay in the contractor’s time line,” he said in Cebuano.
The bridge rehabilitation began last Feb. 8 and is scheduled to be completed in August.
Officials of Hudo, DPWH and Jegma Construction conducted a site inspection last Friday.
During the inspection, Renault Ricardo, assistant district engineer of DPWH 6th Engineering District Office, said the national agency cannot provide assistance to the families because it doesn’t have a budget for it.
DPWH, Jegma Construction and Hudo will mark today the houses that will be affected by the U-turn slot construction.
After the demarcation of the U-turn slot, Juanico said, they will move to another area to check the houses that need to be demolished there.
Juanico said Hudo and DPWH have not yet determined the number of families to be affected by this.
At least 100 families living under the bridge have availed themselves of the 6.5-hectare relocation site in Barangay Paknaan. Hudo still needs to identify who are these families.