P63 M relocation site for families affected by floodway project up for approval
Iloilo City -- The Sangguniang Panlungsod deferred the approval of a resolution granting the chief executive the authority to purchase the P63 million worth of properties to be used as relocation site for families affected by the Iloilo River flood way project.
Majority floor leader Eduardo Peņaredondo acceded to the request of his fellow councilors to defer the approval of a resolution granting Mayor Jerry Treņas the authority to enter into the offer of sell between the city government and the lot owner, Marilyn Mirasol-Inocencio in last Wednesday's regular session.
The councilors asked that they be given the time to scrutinize and study the data and figures concerning the purchase of the relocation site for families affected by the flood way project. The details on the purchase of the lot was only given to the Council Wednesday.
The lot which the city is eyeing to buy is located in San Isidro, Jaro. The area which is currently uninhabited is about 16.2 hectares. The entire property costs P63,180,780.
Peņaredondo said the city has only P53,065,080 and still needs P5,115,700 to purchase the entire property. The funding for the procurement of relocation site came from the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF). The PAF is supposed to be P63,000,000 but according to sources Senator Franklin Drilon slashed the P5 million for unknown reasons.
So far, some P28 million was already released and another P29 million is still pending for release. A total of 2,910 families have already availed relocation sites from the government. The figure does not include the 341 families relocated in Sooc and Buntatala.
However, the number of affected families increased after the last tagging made by the government in 2003. There are still people who continue to construct their houses along the bank of the river, said Peņaredondo.
The majority floor leader expects that the council will grant the authority to the chief executive in next week's regular session. He wanted to have the deal done before the arrival of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the 28th. They wanted the President to do the ceremonial groundbreaking of the new relocation site.