• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The provincial government of Negros Occidental has cancelled the allocation of P14 million for the setting up of a permanent relocation site for Kanlaon Volcano evacuees in La Castellana.
This was after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) disapproved the proposed relocation site in Barangay Manghanoy, which is near the sanitary landfill, Provincial Administrator, Rayfrando Diaz II, said April 23.
For its part, the Office of Civil Defense in Negros Island Region is considering barangays Talaptap and Lalagsan as potential relocation sites.
The P14-million allocation was supposed to be taken from the P50-million financial aid extended by the Office of the President to the provincial government.
Diaz said the provincial government is committed to help look for funds, once a relocation site will be approved by concerned government agencies.
In the meantime, the amount will be used to provide hot meals to the displaced families, who have been staying in the evacuation centers for several months now.
Of the P50 million, the provincial government already utilized P31.939 million, with remaining balance of P18.06 million still available.
The fourth wave of the Capitol feeding program to thousands of Kanlaon evacuees will resume today, April 24, Diaz said. | GB
