ADB: Solving slum problem lacks resolve

The government’s 15-year strategy on slum eradication and urban upgrading in the National Capital Region failed to take off because it lacked the political will to take on the problem, according to the Asian Development Bank.

The conclusion of a study on “Preparing the Metro Manila Urban Services for the Poor Project” said the creation of sustainable and disaster-resilient human settlements has remained a challenging agenda.

“As long as there is no fundamental change in approach by government, chances for success for upscaling of interventions are slim,” said the report prepared by senior urban development specialist Florian Steinberg.

The ADB gave a $1.2 million grant for a renewal program targetting zero-squatter in 15 years through a policy jointly developed by ADB and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

In focus was the metropolis where about 43 percent of the population lived in informal settlements which had no security of tenure besides being prone to natural disasters.

In 2000, there were 726,908 squatter families of whom 43 percent occupied government lands; 15 percent reside on private properties; and 15 percent in danger zones such as waterways, riverbanks and railroad tracks.

The technical assistance involved detailed feasibility studies for urban renewal subprojects in Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Taguig, Makati, Manila, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Valenzuela and Quezon City.

Steinberg noted that a relocation site administered by the National Housing Authority was unavail despite coordination with HUDC and city hall.

“In the case of another NHA-controlled site in Muntinlupa, HUDCC undertook continued efforts to obtain NHA endorsement, until June 2009 when the project dropped from processing,” her report said.

“It may be concluded that NHA would have liked to be the executing agency for the loan; however, this option was excluded from the beginning due to weak fiscal position of NHA.”

In Mandaluyong City, a land dispute involved conflicting interests, including disagreement between city hall and the Social Welfare office resulting in a scaled-down pilot relocation site.

A $490 million multi-tranche financing facility for metro-wide investment proposed in 2006 was degraded to a $40 million investment project covering only Taguig and Muntinlupa.

But even this reduced project was shelved after the Department of Finance rejected the HUDCC proposal, finding it too risky.

DOF said the beneficiary city governments should take charge and not use the Social Housing Finance Corp. as executing agency.

It also said HUDCC was supposed to hold a Metro Manila workshop to endorse a metro-wide “Cities Without Slums’ strategy developed by the consultants which was stalled by questions of turf.

The report noted that HUDCC failed to impress on the DOF the urgency and importance of a metro-wide investment program for housing of the urban poor. –Roderick T. Dela Cruz, Manila Standard Today