BACOLOD CITY — The Silay City government in Negros Occidental, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Philippines Foundation Inc. (HHPFI), will start the construction of an initial 100 disaster-resilient housing units in Barangay E. Lopez on January 22.
The construction follows the groundbreaking rites held last Thursday, led by Mayor Mark Golez, Habitat Vice President for Asia Pacific Rick Hathaway, Managing Director Michael Meaney, and Project Director Lily Fuentes.
Ma. Victoria Abello, HHPFI project manager for Western Visayas, said in a press statement the training of workers for the cement-bamboo frame technology and actual construction starts on Monday.
The orientation and drawing of priority numbers for identified qualified beneficiaries are set on January 28, Abello said.
The memorandum of agreement signed between Habitat for Humanity and Silay City in November last year provided the construction of initial 100 units this year, but Habitat committed to building a total of 546 housing units in the village’s Bon Bon Phase 3 Resettlement Site, including community facilities, within the next few years.
The construction of the first batch of cement-bamboo framed housing units or 50 duplexes is worth about PHP45 million.
The beneficiaries are required to provide sweat equity, including attendance to seminars or meetings.
Alore Golez, officer-in-charge of Silay Housing Authority Office, said the city government availed of the Local Government Unit Resettlement Assistance Program of the National Housing Authority.
Through this, Silay can get a maximum of PHP12-million grant and PHP12-million loan to develop an LGU-owned property as resettlement sites. ( /PNA)
