Construction of new homes for the Indigenous Peoples (IP) families affected by Iloilo’s biggest irrigation development project is starting extremely soon.
On April 30, 2021, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), chief implementing agency of the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Stage II (JRMP II), officially received the counterpart fund of the National Housing Authority (NHA) to build new homes for the IPs.
The fund, amounting to 15 million pesos, is part of the 20-million-peso commitment of the NHA under the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) inked by the two agencies for the JRMP II IP Housing Project on August 3, 2020.
Under the said MOA, the two agencies committed their respective resources for the realization of new homes for the 35 IP families in Barangay Cahigon, Municipality of Calinog, whose current residential houses are expected to be submerged during the filling up of JRMP II High Dam.
NIA, through the Project Management Office (PMO) of JRMP II, provided the location of the resettlement site and is undertaking site development activities including provisions for community facilities, water system and access roads to and from the resettlement site.
The housing beneficiaries themselves have unanimously selected a parcel of land at Sitio Agburi, Barangay Cahigon, Calinog, as the site of the JRMP II IP Housing Project.
The site went through technical assessment of relevant government agencies including the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) for hazards and other relevant risks and was eventually found to be conducive for residential housing hence, the resettlement site.
Recognizing the viability and the immense benefit of the IP relocation project to the IP communities, the NHA provided funds for the construction of the 35 housing units amounting to 20 million pesos.
The amount will cover work components such as lay-out and excavation, concrete, masonry, roof and roof framing, carpentry, plumbing, doors and windows, tiles, painting, electrical with solar panels and construction of project marker/pylon.
The houses were designed by the relocates /housing beneficiaries themselves with the assistance of NIA and NHA and have an approved floor area of 35 square meters in a 150 square meters lot.
Though primarily made of mixed materials which include concrete, wood and galvanized roof, the houses will still exhibit the culture and tradition of the affected indigenous cultural communities.
After construction, NIA will facilitate the registration of housing lots under the names of the housing beneficiaries.
At the helm of this strengthened partnership are JRMP II Acting Project Manager Engineer Jonel Borres and NHA-6 Regional Manager Antonio Del Rosario. In full support too is NHA Iloilo-Guimaras District Manager Fe Jamoyot.
“Today we are taking another big step towards our goal of providing new homes for our brother IPs, not just new homes, but better lives for them,” expressed Manager Borres.
‘We are accepting not only the funds for the construction of the houses, but most of all the responsibility of implementing the JRMP II IP Housing Project in accordance to approved plans and programs,” he added.
The resettlement site is a commitment of NIA under the MOA by and between the agency, the IP community and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) during the FPIC process.
Based on NIA’s compensation policy provided on the Land Acquisition and Resettlement Action Plan, there should be at least 25 affected residential structures per barangay before a resettlement site could be implemented.
The Socio-Economic and Cultural Impact Assessment of JRMP II revealed that of the 171 barangays covered by the project, only Barangay Cahigon is qualified for a resettlement site.
As of this writing, NIA is undertaking site development activities and is preparing for a competitive bidding to determine a qualified contractor of the new houses for the IPs. /JRMP II Steve E. Cordero
NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION
JALAUR RIVER MULTI-PURPOSE PROJECT STAGE II (JRMP II)
PUBLIC RELATIONS TEAM
Contact Person: Steve E. Cordero
Contact Details: (033) 330-8682 / [email protected]
PR 2021-06/ May 4, 2021
