Vice President and concurrent Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Noli de Castro led the groundbreaking rites the other day for 1,000 new housing units in Rodriguez, Rizal where informal settlers living on the banks of the Pasig River will be relocated.

The housing project, De Castro said, is an essential part of the government’s on-going effort to rehabilitate the Pasig River led by the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC).

He said 373 completed housing units in Phase 1 of the Kasiglahan Village 1 Extension Project were inaugurated while a groundbreaking ceremony was held to signal the start of construction for another 627 housing units in Phase 2.

According to De Castro, completion of the project is expected by August this year.

“Once relocated, the families will be provided not only with new shelters but a pleasant community where they could start their new lives,” he said.

De Castro also revealed that a similar housing project will be opened in Punta, Sta. Ana to benefit informal settlers living along the riverbanks. The project is targeted to be finished before the year ends.

“After these projects, 2,346 families still have to be relocated next year,” he said.

De Castro said the government has already learned a lot from the previous resettlement efforts. That is why aside from housing assistance, the families would be given livelihood and skills training programs, transportation and food assistance, and the needed facilities such as health centers, day care centers, multi- purpose halls and many others, he said.

Source : mb.com.ph