ILOILO – The walls of some houses at the National Housing Authority’s (NHA) mass housing project for super typhoon “Yolanda” survivors in Barangay Bacjawan Sur, Concepcion, Iloilo were flaky.
“In my view, these won’t last. They have to be replaced,” said Engr. Victor Diomo of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6’s Maintenance Division.
Diomo led a preliminary ocular inspection on the P290-million project yesterday as requested by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP). He recommended a more extensive check.
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, Diomo told SP members led by Vice Gov. Christine Garin and Engr. Romeo Andig of the Provincial Engineering Office.
“I can’t say for certain that all the 1,000 housing units are substandard. There must a more thorough check,” said Diomo.
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 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.
“I commit myself to do the rectification kon diin ang deperensya basta i-hambal ninyo lang sa akon,” said Carreon.
According to the contractor, he would never do anything that would ruin his reputation or that of his construction company.
“Kon may ara deperensya, liwaton ko. Kon kulang dugangan ko,” said Carreon.
SP member Renee Valencia, chairperson of the committee on justice, good government and human rights, said another public hearing on this matter may be held.
The committee held an initial hearing on May 28.
“I won’t right away say the housing units are substandard. For now, I would rather say they are of poor quality. When we say substandard, we have to know what the standard is,” said Valencia.
The next committee hearing would be held after the DPWH submits the results of its ocular inspection, Valencia added.
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.
During the May 22 Senate hearing conducted by the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement on the alleged irregularities on resettlement and relocation programs undertaken by the government for disaster-affected areas, Sen. Loren Legarda said all those involved in the government housing programs have to be accountable.
Given the sufficient budgetary support from the national government, she said there should be no substandard and delayed implementation of housing projects in different calamity-hit areas and relocation sites.
“These housing programs are being funded by taxpayers’ money, allocated through General Appropriations Act. So why does this regularly happen? Somebody has to be liable for the irresponsible use of inferior, substandard and even inappropriate construction materials,” said Legarda.
The senator underscored the need for the judicious use of funds allocated for housing programs to strengthen the accountability of the government and provide the people with the assistance that they deserve.
“All these issues are not new to us, or to the NHA, and they need to be addressed because this is an example of wasting the people’s money. Wastage and inefficiency in government programs undermine the confidence of the people in the institution,” said Legarda.
She also questioned NHA for building housing units in areas where there are no basic utilities.
“Why is the NHA building communities and relocation sites where there’s no electricity and no access to water? Why use the taxpayers’ money and government funds for land that is far-flung, and where you don’t provide basic utilities?” asked Legarda./PN
