Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has formally turned over electric sub-meters, with a total cost of P1 million, to the new homes of 1,000 informal settler families who have been relocated by the city government at Southville 8 at Barangay San Isidro in Rodriguez, Rizal.
Beneficiaries of the sub-meters include some of the victims of typhoon “Ondoy” and indigent families living dangerously along creeks and riverways such as the Tullahan River, San Francisco River and Culiat Creek.
Families displaced during a demolition of shanties at 6th and 7th Streets in Barangay Mariana also received their share of the sub-meters.
The city government agreed to shoulder payment for the sub-electric meters to help QC relocatees avail of legal electrical connections from the Manila Electric Company (Meralco). Each sub-meter costs around P1,000 per family per connection.
As of July 7, a total of 1,836 informal settler families from 19 areas in Quezon City have already availed of the city’s relocation program at the National Housing Authority-designated resettlement site at Southville 8.
“The resettlement of informal settler families should not be misconstrued as demolition but rather be viewed as a rescue effort from the city government in the hope of providing a permanent solution to the problem of informal settlements in QC,” the Mayor said. “Ayaw na po namin ng band-aid solution sa problema ng pabahay para sa mga maralitang taga-lungsod, lalo at higit sa mga kababayan natin na nakatira sa mga delikadong lugar,” the Mayor stressed.
The QC government’s plan to create a model housing community for QC relocatees at Southville 8 also includes building a public elementary school and a high school.
There is a continuing effort from Mayor Bautista to adopt a meaningful development plan to provide more livable communities for QC residents, especially informal settlers living in danger areas such as sidewalks, roadways, waterways, under transmission lines and on water pipelines.
“The problem of poverty and informal settlements in Quezon City is huge. But, we can help make this challenge manageable through the pathways of collaboration and teamwork among ourselves,” the Mayor said. Precy/ Ej/ Maureen Quiñones, PAISO
