Coffee and vegetable farmers in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, have suffered about P194 million in losses from Kanlaon Volcano’s eruption in June and the long El Niño drought, Mayor Rhummyla Nicor Mangilmutan said Tuesday, Nov. 19.
The affected farmers are from barangays Masulog, Biak na Bato, Cabagna-an, Mansalanao, Sag-ang, Cabacungan, Maghanoy and Camandag, she said.
The municipal government is allocating a 1.7 hectare property for a permanent relocation site for residents who are no longer allowed to live within Kanlaon Volcano’s 4-kilometer permanent danger zone and for the construction of an evacuation center, Mangilimutan said.
There are 10 families from the danger zone that are staying at the Masulog covered court, she said, adding that the municipal government has been providing them food.
There are about 37 other families from the danger zone who have found other areas to live, she added.
The mayor is seeking the help of the national government for the construction of houses for the families from the danger zone and for the evacuation center.
She said the 1.7 hectare property allocated for the relocation site is part of an 11-hectare property of the municipal government where its sanitary landfill is located.
They will have recycling facilities at the landfill where the residents from the danger zone can be employed in the production of plastic chairs, bricks and other recycled products, she said.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development is training the La Castellana housing board personnel on how to implement the housing project for the relocated danger zone residents, she said.
She said the municipal government is also continuing to ration potable water to residents living at the foot Kanlaon where water is still not safe for drinking.
La Castellana is still under a state of calamity and a price freeze is in effect, Mangilimutan said.*