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Mayor Evelio Leonardia said today that the improvement of the existing
relocation site in Vista Alegre-Granada and the development of the
existing site at the adjacent property bought by the city government
from the Arao family is a priority project that the present
administration aims to accomplish soon.
Leonardia said that as early as 2007, the city
government has already seen the growing problem of informal settling
brought about by the business and construction boom in the city. The
mayor said that it is a reality that when any community progresses, its
population of informal settlers also proportionately grows as jobless
people from out of town are attracted by the livelihood opportunities in
the more progressive area.
He stressed that as of December last year, the Bacolod
Housing Authority reported that there were at least 14,879 structure
owners who need relocation assistance. These structure owners are those
who are facing eviction and demolition notices and those who are living
in danger zones and priority areas for flood mitigation. Leonardia said
that this figure is expected to increase annually at a population growth
rate of 2.12%.
Aside from providing relocation site to informal
settlers, Leonardia explained that the city government’s relocation
program also included a scheme where the city government can provide
technical and financial assistance through soft loans to help the
informal settlers put up the needed equity or down payment for illegally
occupied lands whose owners are willing to sell their lots to the
occupants.
These on-site projects, however, can be done on a case
to case basis only as these will still depend on the landowners
themselves, the mayor said. He explained that if selling prices are
high, the on-site option may not work as the beneficiaries may not be
able to afford it.
Leonardia reiterated that the city government has no
real properties big enough to serve as suitable relocation site and this
is the main reason why city officials decided to acquire a new
relocation site through negotiated sale. |