The Negros Occidental provincial government is considering two properties in Brgy Talaptap, La Castellana, as permanent relocation sites for residents of the town who have been displaced by Kanlaon Volcano’s unrest, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Thursday, June 19.
He said acceptability of the permanent relocation sites for those affected will be the basis for the provincial government’s purchase of the land.
This is to ensure that the evacuees will stay at the new site and not return to their homes in Kanlaon Volcano’s 6-kilometer danger zone, Diaz said.
The owners of the Talaptap properties will send a letter-offer, and the provincial government will respond by sending an appraisal committee for the valuation of the property, he said.
If the site is acceptable to the displaced residents and the local officials of La Castellana the provincial government will start procuring the property, Diaz said.
One property in Talaptap is 8 hectares and the other is 11 hectares, he said.
The 11-hectare property is near the Talaptap barangay hall and a school, which makes it ideal as a permanent relocation side, Diaz said.
The displaced La Castellana residents cannot be brought to evacuation centers outside of the town because that would be far from their livelihoods and the schools of their children, Diaz added.
The provincial government will continue to provide food assistance to the evacuees who were relocated to camps outside of schools within La Castellana .
Livelihood opportunities are also being eyed for the evacuees, Diaz said.*