Zamboanga City Government News Bits – June 15, 2015
- Mayor Beng Climaco together with National Housing Authority District Manager Al Indanan and Department of Social Welfare and Development Assistant Regional Director Riduan Hadjimuddin spearheaded the distribution of the P10,000 cash assistance to over 300 families who have recently returned to their permanent homes built under the Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction program. The amount is intended for light and water connections to the houses of each IDP-family. As this developed, the IDPs expressed gratitude and thanks to the national and local government for continuously looking after their needs and ensure recovery from the 2013 MNLF siege of Zamboanga.
- The DSWD formally turned over Monday, June 15, to the City Government through Mayor Beng Climaco, the P45 million cheque representing the first tranche of the P50 million bridging fund intended for the assistance in recovery sites in furtherance of the government’s poverty alleviation program, pursuant to a MOA between the city and the DSWD. Foremost in the budget breakdown is the P14 million payment for the city’s debts to Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative that also covers electric bills for the months of January to July 2015.
- A break in the fiber optics caused telecommunication service interruption in the City last week. In a press briefing Monday morning at City Hall, PLDT Zone Head Amante de Guzman reported two detected service interruptions on Friday and Saturday from a fiber optic break caused by excavations done by contractors working on a Department of Public Work and Highways road improvement project. Technical personnel are already in the area to restore service, assured de Guzman. Meanwhile, Engr. Frangelo Alilin of Globe Telecommunications explained the wide network outage experienced by Globe subscribers on Wednesday, June 10, was caused by a generator set failure in Pagadian which bogged down Globe’s critical relay to the City. This resulted in 58 minutes of data and voice services interruption. Alilin said mitigating measures are being implemented to prevent similar incidents from happening and to ensure more robust and stable connections.
- Efforts to rehabilitate the city’s sports complex will now start in earnest. This after the bulk of internally displaced families temporarily staying at the Don Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex since the September MNLF 2013 siege have been relocated to various permanent shelters or returned to their points of origin. CDRRMO Chief Dr. Elmeir Apolinario said the technical working group are set to meet anytime this month to discuss the mechanics of the rehabilitation and reconstruction following the procurement of the blueprints for the sports complex last week.
- The stakeholders Forum on Power initiated by the City Government Monday afternoon clarified issues pertaining to the EPIRA law, its necessary elements and encouraged the development of systematic action plan on the current power crisis. Key players in the power supply generation, transmission and distribution informed the public of their distinct process and activities during the forum at Centro Latino. The event was held in partnership with the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers, and the Social Awareness and Community Service Involvement.
- The 3rd wave of information caravan organized by the Communications Working Group with support from the USAID and the Asia Foundation, will conclude Tuesday, June 16 in the Asinan, Kasanyangan transitory site with approximately 200 IDP-families. The Code of Policies on Z3R beneficiary Selection and its IRR is the main agenda during the press briefing.
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