ANGELES CITY – North Luzon Railways Corp. (NorthRail) President Edgardo Pamin-tuan has stopped the immediate relocation of some 3,200 families along the old government railways in this city amid reports that houses in their relocation site in Barangay Cutud here are defective, some collapsing.
Councilor Jay Sangil said Pamintuan gave this assurance after conferring with National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Rico Laxa on reports of serious defects in the housing units at Northville 15 in Cutud.
Sangil has lamented that the relocation of the families to give way to the Caloocan-to-Clark phase of the railways system endangered the lives of the beneficiaries amid reports that during the recent heavy rains, walls cracked and even collapsed.
Pamintuan vowed to “check all defects” at the resettlement site before the relocation of the affected families is allowed to resume. The affected families are from Barangays Pulung Bulo, Sto. Cristo, Lourdes Sur East, Claro M. Recto, Agapito Del Rosario, Sta. Teresita, Malabanias, and Balibago in this city.
The NHA has been rushing the resettlement site amid orders from Vice Pres. Noli de Castro, who is concurrent chief of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) to have all families along the old railways moved to relocation sites by the deadline this June.
The NHA allocated P65,000 for the construction of each housing unit on a lot measuring 28 square meters whose cost was placed at another P75,000. The beneficiaries are to amortize the cost for 30 years.
Pamintuan said Pres. Arroyo wants the new railways project finished by the May elections next year despite some five years delay in its implementation.
Of the 3,200 families affected in this city, some 200 already moved to finished houses at Northville 15, paving the way for workers to demolish their old homes along the old railways.
Those who had already transferred to their housing units complained of severely leaking roofs, collapsed and cracked walls, and defective drainage system, among other shortcomings.
Consortia Dayrit, local vice president of the Kapit Bisig ng Samahan ng Taga Riles Homeowners Association (Kapit Bisig) told Punto! that the entire front wall of the housing unit at Lot 1, Block 9 even totally collapsed during heavy rains last week amid reports that the ground on which some of the units were built were eroded by recent floods.
“It’s as if the families were rushed to be evacuated in an area ill-prepared, just like in the days of Mt. Pinatubo eruption where more people died from ailments at evacuation centers than from the direct effects of the eruption,” Sangil said.
William David, who was among the initial 200 families to volunteer to move to Northville 15, complained that he and his family were compelled to rent an apartment instead of immediately moving to their resettlement unit which he described as sub-standard.
He jumped on the concrete floor of his unit to indicate hollow space underneath. He also said that the door would not close because it did not fit its jamb.
He and his neighbors complained that during heavy rains during tropical depression Emong recently, the resettlement site sunk under knee deep floods. “The drainages failed to work,” David said.
Dayrit said almost all of the roofs of the housing units dripped heavily. “It was as if big faucets were turned on inside the houses,” she said, as she described the roofing materials as “almost like tin foil”.
Councilor Jay Sangil said Pamintuan gave this assurance after conferring with National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Rico Laxa on reports of serious defects in the housing units at Northville 15 in Cutud.
Sangil has lamented that the relocation of the families to give way to the Caloocan-to-Clark phase of the railways system endangered the lives of the beneficiaries amid reports that during the recent heavy rains, walls cracked and even collapsed.
Pamintuan vowed to “check all defects” at the resettlement site before the relocation of the affected families is allowed to resume. The affected families are from Barangays Pulung Bulo, Sto. Cristo, Lourdes Sur East, Claro M. Recto, Agapito Del Rosario, Sta. Teresita, Malabanias, and Balibago in this city.
The NHA has been rushing the resettlement site amid orders from Vice Pres. Noli de Castro, who is concurrent chief of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) to have all families along the old railways moved to relocation sites by the deadline this June.
The NHA allocated P65,000 for the construction of each housing unit on a lot measuring 28 square meters whose cost was placed at another P75,000. The beneficiaries are to amortize the cost for 30 years.
Pamintuan said Pres. Arroyo wants the new railways project finished by the May elections next year despite some five years delay in its implementation.
Of the 3,200 families affected in this city, some 200 already moved to finished houses at Northville 15, paving the way for workers to demolish their old homes along the old railways.
Those who had already transferred to their housing units complained of severely leaking roofs, collapsed and cracked walls, and defective drainage system, among other shortcomings.
Consortia Dayrit, local vice president of the Kapit Bisig ng Samahan ng Taga Riles Homeowners Association (Kapit Bisig) told Punto! that the entire front wall of the housing unit at Lot 1, Block 9 even totally collapsed during heavy rains last week amid reports that the ground on which some of the units were built were eroded by recent floods.
“It’s as if the families were rushed to be evacuated in an area ill-prepared, just like in the days of Mt. Pinatubo eruption where more people died from ailments at evacuation centers than from the direct effects of the eruption,” Sangil said.
William David, who was among the initial 200 families to volunteer to move to Northville 15, complained that he and his family were compelled to rent an apartment instead of immediately moving to their resettlement unit which he described as sub-standard.
He jumped on the concrete floor of his unit to indicate hollow space underneath. He also said that the door would not close because it did not fit its jamb.
He and his neighbors complained that during heavy rains during tropical depression Emong recently, the resettlement site sunk under knee deep floods. “The drainages failed to work,” David said.
Dayrit said almost all of the roofs of the housing units dripped heavily. “It was as if big faucets were turned on inside the houses,” she said, as she described the roofing materials as “almost like tin foil”.
