• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
About 300 families residing within the six-kilometer extended permanent danger zone (PDZ) of Kanlaon Volcano in La Castellana, Negros Occidental have expressed willingness to be relocated, local disaster risk reduction management officer John de Asis said on Friday (Sept. 19).
The 8.6-hectare private property in Barangay Talaptap is set to be purchased by the provincial government for internally displaced persons (IDPs) who can no longer return to their homes within the four-kilometer PDZ.
De Asis said the transaction for payment of the lot purchase is ongoing, which would be followed by the land preparation for site development.
Data from the La Castellana Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office showed that there are still 61 families or 213 individuals staying in four evacuation centers as their houses are located within the four-kilometer PDZ.
Each of the households that will be accommodated in the relocation site may also have farm lots to cultivate.
The provincial government is also eyeing the purchase of an 11-hectare property to be used as a relocation site for IDPs in La Castellana.
As Alert Level 2 over Kanlaon Volcano still prevails, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology maintains that there should be no human activity within the four-kilometer PDZ. | GB
