By Jocelyn P. Alvarez
ZAMBOANGA CITY - Following questions posed on the quality of housing units for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) resulting from the September 2013 siege, Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said their transfer to transitory shelters will go beyond the Dec. 15 deadline.
“It would be quite considerable to be slow in the construction as long as the housing units are of good quality than to rush things up just to meet the deadline and end up compromising the quality of the shelters,” Climaco explained adding “the city cannot meet the Dec. 15 deadline to move all IDPs out of the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex.”
“We can be slow as long as we are sure that the housing units we will give to the IDPs are of good quality. We have to make sure of quality more than meeting the deadline,” She pointed out.
Mayor Climaco said, of the 2,086 IDPs still occupying the grandstand since last year, the most that the city can do is to move out 380 families on or before the December 15 deadline.
The Mayor even expressed her desire of having permanent shelters already constructed for the remaining IDPs at the grandstand rather than spend money for temporary shelters then later to permanent homes.
“We want to relieve the IDPs with the burden of transferring from grandstand to temporary shelters then to their permanent homes,” Mayor Climaco said.
It can be recalled, the national government has set Dec. 15, 2014 as the deadline for the clearing of the grandstand and full transfer of IDPs.