[ manilastandardtoday.com ] May 16, 2011
THE Quezon City government has identified a 34-hectare private lot within Rodriguez,Rizal for use as a relocation site for 10,731 squatter families staying along danger zones.
Mayor Herbert Bautista said they are buying the property from the Arce family which they could develop into a relocate site and allow informal settlers live together as one community.
“This will be the city’s first step toward the attainment of providing genuine resettlement areas for the city’s underprivileged residents,” he noted.
He said the city’s 26 councilors have given him the green light to enter into a contract with the lot owner in a resolution authorizing the land acquisition valued a P550 per square meter.
The housing project would enable the development of 5,100 home lots with an area of 40 square meters each.
Bautista tasked City Secretary Tadeo Palma to head the city’s socialized housing task force and solve the problem of squatting on sidewalks, roadways, waterways, and pipelines, as well as under the transmission lines of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.
“The problem of poverty and informal settlements in Quezon City is huge. But we can help make this challenge manageable through the pathways of collaboration and partnerships,” he said.
Ramon Asprer, head of the Urban Poor Affairs Office, said there are 10,731 squatter households in identified danger areas. Rio N. Araja
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