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MANDAUE CITY, Philippines – Some Mandaue City officials voiced skepticism over plans for a condo-type housing project for city residents funded by the World Bank (WB) under the Urban Partnerships for Sustainable Upliftment, Renewal, Governance and Empowerment (Upsurge) program.
Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said the project, featured under the proposed P20 million “shelter plan” of the WB and Upsurge may not be feasible for residents unaccustomed to the setup.
The shelter plan, which consists of providing housing and land tenure for families, comes on the heels of a previous housing project financed by the WB for barangay Canduman residents.
During last week's meeting, WB Philippines representative Julia Nebrija explained that a housing project in a limited area should follow a condo-type setup like in China and other parts of Asia.
She also suggested that open spaces be kept to give breathing room for occupants.
However, Fortuna said Mandaue City residents may disagree since they still want separate ground spaces for their houses.
“People are not accustomed to it (high-rise), they want to have the traditional (way),” Fortuna said.
Fortuna said it is also difficult to keep idle lots from being developed into commercial spaces because these are private properties and the Mandaue City government is promoting entrepreneurship.
The vice mayor suggested that the shelter plan be expanded to cover the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay and Metro Cebu towns.
Fortuna said many workers based in Mandaue come from neighboring cities and towns.
“It is different if you look at an ideal concept from above than what you see in the ground. Business is so dispersed throughout Metro Cebu that workers cross cities for employment,” Fortuna said.
Fortuna said a unified shelter plan for Metro Cebu needs collaboration with local officials of neighboring cities and towns.
Around 170 families relocated from the central portions of Mandaue City to the Canduman housing project financed by the World Bank before last year's 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.
Each family is allocated about 32 square meters of land in the housing project.
The proposed Upsurge housing project in Mandaue City will be implemented in coordination with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).
