THE ZAMBOANGA City government has taken over all concerns relating to the Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction (Z3R) Project, including the housing component. The move came after a group, including Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar and other officials, fell into murky water when a footbridge in a housing area collapsed during a site visit last April 26. The city’s Housing and Land Management Division, headed by former councilor Cesar “Jawo” L. Jimenez, has been put in charge of Z3R effective April 30. The mayor, in a statement, said they intend to check on the housing units, implemented by the National Housing Authority (NHA), and undertake necessary retrofitting, depending on available funds. “We have been asking NHA to come up with a third party monitoring because the role of the city is only regulatory and coordinative. It will also be quite difficult to do the monitoring because according to NHA they are monitoring themselves,” Ms. Climaco said. “We are picking the pieces up. We are really doing our best and we sat down to be able to address the problems,” she added. Meanwhile, the mayor also lamented that as of May 1, the NHA has yet to submit to the city all documents pertaining to the housing projects for review. — Mindanao Bureau

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