ILOILO – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s (SP) committee on justice, good government and human rights may hold the second public hearing on the alleged substandard P290-million housing project of the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Barangay Bacjawan Sur, Concepcion town on June 21.
According to committee chairperson SP member Renee Valencia, the hearing would be at the Provincial Board session hall, Iloilo Provincial Capitol.
The housing project was for survivors of 2013’s super typhoon “Yolanda.”
Among others, Concepcion’s Mayor Millar Villanueva and Sangguniang Bayan members would be invited to the hearing, said Valencia.
The housing project contractor would also be given the chance to air its side, Valencia added.
On June 8, Valencia’s committee conducted an ocular inspection of the housing project and invited engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 and Provincial Engineering Office.
As of this writing, the engineers were yet to submit to the committee their assessment of the project.
Engr. Victor Diomo of DPWH-6’s Maintenance Division, however, made this initial observation: “In my view, these (housing units) won’t last. They have to be replaced.”
NHA contractor Hercar Construction Corp. built a total of 1,000 housing units. According to Diomo, the standard mixing proportion of cement, sand and gravel may not have been followed.
The standard mix is one sack cement, two sacks sand and three sacks of gravel, said Diomo.
Valencia said the contractor would be asked about the steps it would be undertaking to address the concerns of the housing beneficiaries.
Housing beneficiaries have been complaining of the following since November last year: cracks on floors, scaling of concrete walls, leaky roofing, uneven paint application, no water supply, and sloppy construction of toilets.
Hercar Construction Corp.’s Herminio Carreon who was present during the June 8 ocular inspection denied the housing units were substandard. Construction workers followed the standard mixing proportion of cement, sand and gravel, he insisted.
Carreon, however, theorized that too much water may have been used during the mixing.
He vowed to fix the defects.
NHA started the housing project in 2016, three years after super typhoon “Yolanda” struck northern Iloilo. Of the 1,000 units, only 450 are occupied.
Each housing unit costs P290,000./PN
