• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The provincial government of Negros Occidental is set to purchase an initial eight-hectare lot to be used as a permanent relocation site for residents of La Castellana affected by the ongoing unrest of Kanlaon Volcano.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Tuesday (July 15) that they are negotiating with a landowner, who already agreed to sell the property located outside the six-kilometer extended danger zone.
The land, which is a flat area located near a school, can accommodate 200 internally displaced persons (IDPs), who will also be given farm lots to cultivate, Lacson said.
About 1,800 individuals, who had been staying in the evacuation camps for more than seven months already, on Sunday returned to their respective homes located within the six-kilometer extended danger zone.
Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer John de Asis said the local government unit could no longer afford to support them in the evacuation camps as the municipality already ran out of funds.
About 1,400 IDPs, who are residents of Barangays Biak Na Bato, Masulog and Mansalanao, are still occupying the evacuation centers in the poblacion.
Lacson said the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council will take charge of the land development and provide housing for IDPs in the relocation site.
He added that he will discuss with the Department of Education the need to put up more classrooms in the nearby school.
The provincial government is also eyeing to purchase an 11-hectare property to be used as another relocation site in La Castellana.
“Eventually, time will come that if there is Alert Level 3, we don’t need to move them because they are already on safer grounds,” Lacson said.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology maintains that there should be no human activity within the six-kilometer extended danger zone.
“At the end of the day, it will be for the local government unit to decide,” Lacson said.
Kanlaon Volcano remains under Alert Level 3 since its eruption last Dec. 9, indicating that “magmatic eruption has begun and may progress to further explosive eruptions.” | GB
