September 22, 2009 06:51 PM Tuesday [ journal.com.ph ]
By: Bernadette E. Tamayo
SENATE Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri urged the National Housing Authority and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to expedite the relocation of about 545,000 “informal settlers” in Metro Manila.
Zubiri also asked the NHA and the MMDA to provide immediate resettlement areas for informal settlers that will be displaced by the Pasig clean- up project.
“While the intention of the campaign is good, the agencies concerned could not carry out the relocation plan without the appropriate treatment of informal settlers,” Zubiri said.
He ordered the two agencies to coordinate with the local government units to ensure that real beneficiaries will be the recipient of the program and not the so-called “professional squatting syndicates.”
NHA co-manager and Kapit-Bisig sa Ilog Pasig head Gina Lopez told the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement that the biggest obstacle in the clean- up are the informal settlers.
Lopez said at least a half kilogram of waste is produced by one person everyday, or a total of 1,387 tons of garbage generated by 1,000 families.
Kapit-Bisig initial targets include the 3-kilometer Estero de Paco and the San Juan River.
Some 5,000 to 10,000 individuals live along Estero de Paco and directly discharge garbage and wastewater into the estero.
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