TACLOBAN CITY- National Housing Authority (NHA) is dismissing claims that houses located at the resettlement sites here sustained damages after the city was hit by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake.
Rizalde Mediavillo, NHA regional manager, said that they have inspected these houses right after the quake and based on their inspection, they did not notice any damage to these houses.
This assertion of the NHA official is in contrary to the claims of city engineer Dionisio de Paz.
de Paz said that several housing units located in Ridge View in Barangay Cabalawan and Guadalupe Heights in Brgy. Suhi were seen to have developed cracks after the jolt.
With the damaged sustain by these housing units, the city official alleged that the building of these units could be substandard, a claim that has been previously made.
“On the inspection that we conducted after the earthquake, there were no reported housing units that were damaged,” Mediavillo said.
“What was observed was the fiber cement board that was used was not integrated with the concrete cement. If it is not integrated, there is a tendency that it will not stick with the cement because it is only a form work. But that doesn’t mean that it is substandard because if you say that it is substandard, the materials you use is not within the standard,” the NHA official added.
Ridge View and Guadalupe Heights are among the 11 resettlement sites constructed by the NHA for families who totally lost their houses after Tacloban was pummeled by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013.
NHA is tasked to construct more than 14,400 housing units but has only so far built more than 8,000 units.
Cracks on walls or what they call hairline cracks are natural to appear in any concrete structure and are not dangerous, added Mediavillo.
“All housing projects are safe because before it is implemented by the NHA, it must be approved first by the Department of Public Works and Highways for resiliency approval,” Mediavillo stressed.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
