GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 18 May) – More poor informal settler families in Tampakan town, South Cotabato province are expected to benefit from the planned expansion of a flagship resettlement housing project in the area.
Tampakan Mayor Leonard Escobillo said they are working on forging another financing agreement with the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the second phase of the Goldenville housing project in Purok Medalla Milagrosa, Barangay Poblacion.
He said the project will cost around P25 million and will cater to around 70 more informal settlers in the municipality.
“The target beneficiaries are families residing in danger areas and public places and those whose houses had been destroyed or damaged by calamities and disasters, and require relocation to safe areas,” he said.
Also eligible are families displaced or to be displaced due to government infrastructure projects, families that are subject of court orders for demolition or eviction, and those qualified as socialized housing beneficiaries, he said.
As of Monday, the construction of the housing project’s first phase was in full swing at the 2.5-hectare resettlement site owned by the municipal government.
The project, which took off in October last year, will benefit up to 100 poor informal settler families.
Escobillo said they have fast tracked the processing of various documents required for availment of the NHA’s Resettlement Assistance Program for the Local Government Units.
He said the municipal council, through Vice Mayor John Mark Baldon, committed to issue the needed authority for the signing of another agreement with NHA.
The mayor added that the housing project’s initial phase is nearing completion and will be turned over by NHA to the local government “in the coming days.” (MindaNews)
