Amend housing policy, NHA urged

HERMOSA, Bataan –  Mayor  Antonio Joseph R. Inton has asked the National Housing Authority (NHA) to undertake necessary amendments on the housing policy and procedure concerning disposition and awards to the qualified project beneficiaries of about 2,000 unoccupied housing units in the upland village of Mabuco, this town.

He requested Marcelino P. Escalada,Jr., NHA acting  general manager  to conduct re-evaluation and assessment of the existing NHA policies and guidelines  pertinent to the  nature and awarding of completed housing units in Hermosa Ville Armed forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police(PNP) housing project  and Hermosa Heights Resettlement Project, both located in Barangay Mabuco, this town.

Escalada, however, informed Mayor Inton that the NHA has already advised the AFP/PNP housing boards relative to the prolonged non-occupancy of the 1,500 housing units awarded to qualified AFP/PNP beneficiaries by the respective housing boards including those units allocated to qualified personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP/Bucor) Bureau of Correctional.

The NHA general manager explained that at the Hermosa Heights Resettlement Project, 189 qualified families have been relocated based on the master list of beneficiaries.The allocation of 309 units in the said project site is basically on the local interagency committee.

According to Escalada, it has been observed that the relocation of qualified informal settler families (ISF) who are living along the riverbanks and waterways in the coastal barangays of Almacen and Polo has been delayed due to continuous refusal of the qualified ISF’s to be relocated in the said resettlement site.

Vacant units in said resettlement are yet without individual power and water connections as it is the policy of the concerned water and power service providers not to provide the permanent individual power connections until they are occupied by the qualified awardees.

The project with well-paved road, concrete post and a new high-school was turned over by the private contractor to NHA in June 2016.

In a related development, Mayor Antonio Joseph R. Inton is seeking funding from the National Housing Authority (NHA) under its Resettlement Assistance Program for the development of 10,000 square meters of the government-owned property located in the upland village of Mabuco.

Mayor Inton wrote Marcelino P. Escalada,Jr. NHA general manager about the plight of the residents and requested the Agency to allocate funds to finance the proposed resettlement project for the benefit of informal settlers  who are duly affected by the imminent demolition of structures situated in the coastal communities of the town.

He said those informal dwellers residing along the dangerous riverbanks, waterways and flood –prone low-lying areas are scheduled for demolition by the concerned government agencies for their protection and safety particularly in the advent of rainy season and other calamities.