Friday, June 19, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
A NEW Gawad Kalinga (GK) village will soon rise at the land recently acquired by the Iloilo City government at Barangay Lanit, Jaro district.
City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas announced this upon his return from the weeklong 2009 GK Global Summit held last June 9-16 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Treñas said that GK city coordinator Peter Chiu was left behind for a few days to collate all the pledges and donations from various Ilonggo groups and organizations in the United States and Canada to construct additional housing units under Gawad Kalinga.
The new GK Village will rise at the 5.6 hectares of land bought from the Golez family. It is expected to accommodate 728 houses for relocated urban poor families affected by Typhoon Frank in June 2008, those living along the Dungon Creek, and those living under the bridges in Iloilo City.
Treñas said he is enthusiastic over the positive response of the long-time Ilonggo residents in the USA in helping their fellow Ilonggos in the city acquire decent homes.
Typhoon Frank has displaced more than 1,000 families, while more than 2,000 families are still living along the creeks and other danger zones in the city.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will soon start its dredging project along the Dungon Creek which is expected to affect more than 1,000 families in 13 barangays along the creek.
The DPWH will give the dredged soil as filling materials to the relocation site and as soil cover materials at the Calajunan dumpsite.
Gawad Kalinga has a GK village at the Sooc relocation site in Mandurriao district, some houses at the Bitoon relocation site in Jaro district and 300 houses under construction at the San Isidro relocation, also in Jaro.
Treñas said the City Government contribution to the project is the lot, while Gawad Kalinga will construct the houses.
The city is also host to 500 houses at the 16 hectare-relocation site in San Isidro, to be constructed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Habitat for Humanity, amounting to some P35 million.
It is also hosting at the same relocation site the 100 houses funded from the priority development assistance fund of Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr., and 120 houses funded by a non-government organization. (LCP)
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