Habitat to expand Sarangani Housing Project

By Gandhi C. Kinjiyo

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (March 1, 2008) – The European Union (EU) and Habitat for Humanity were set to expand the "Bringing Peace while Building Home" project in two villages in Sarangani, a peace and development facilitator (PDF) said.

"Under the 'Build for Peace in Mindanao Program' of EU and Habitat for Humanity, barangays Datu Dani and Katubao in Kiamba have been identified to receive assistance for full houses construction and renovation respectively," said Bai Khan, a PDF of Habitat for Humanity.

Barangays Lumatil in Maasim town and Tuyan in Malapatan have benefited from the housing project.

"There are 25 full houses and 25 renovations in Tuyan and 25 full houses in Lumatil," Johnny Akbar said. Akbar, a former rebel commander, is president of the Sarangani Peace and Development Advocates League.

Akbar facilitated mostly former members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) or their families to avail of the project.

Akbar said 10 housing units in Lumatil and 20 units in Tuyan now have occupants.

However, Khan said before barangay Datu Dani could avail, there must be available home lots for the beneficiaries either from donors or the home-partners themselves "to ensure that the project would not be wasted."

"Mayor Rommel Falgui of Kiamba said he will ask certain landowners in Datu Dani to donate parcel of land for the project," Khan related.

Khan said in "Katubao there is only renovation so there is no need for donations."

"It is the policy of the sponsor to ask for counterpart: 1/3 of the project cost from the home-partner, 1/3 from the LGU partner and 1/3 from the friends of Habitat for Humanity," she explained.

Khan added the LGU (local government unit) partners may provide sand and gravel, the home-partner may counterpart the labor while Friends of Habitat will shoulder other materials.

She said Sarangani Governor Migs Dominguez pledged P500,000 for the planned housing project during a dinner with the Friends of Habitat at the Phela Grande Hotel on February 27.

Former Miss Universe Margie Moran Floirendo is the chairperson of Friends of Habitat for Humanity.

Part of the process was the validation of the project needs by the Barangay Development Council (BDC) of the two barangays.

"We asked the BDC if there is a need for housing project in the two villages and it came out that some constituents really need the project" Khan explained.

Barangays Lumatil, Tuyan, Datu Dani and Katubao are Peace and Development Communities (PDC). These are communities that had experienced conflicts during the height of the Martial Law years in the 70s and 80s.

Eighteen PDCs in the province receive interventions from the United Nations Development Program-ACT for Peace Programme such as trainings empowering the peoples organization, seminar on Culture of Peace and conflict resolution, water system projects, day care center construction, and other small infra projects.

The Kalinaw Sarangani Unit of the Office of the Governor, which handles the Provincial Peace and Development Program, has expanded the number of PDCs in the province to 35. It replicates the same interventions of the UNDP-ACT for Peace Programme to the additional PDCs.

Khan said that their intervention is part of peace-building initiative to the constituents of the PDCs. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/GCK)