Reclamation seen to augment City Hall’s land-banking program

CAGAYAN de Oro City Hall will continue to pursue land-banking to provide relocation to displaced settlers even as it looks to reclamation as a viable option to expand the city’s land area for future developments.

“We need land banking, especially with the infrastructure projects that we’re having now which result in the displacement of settlers who live in hazardous areas that they shouldn’t live in in the first place. But still, the burden of relocation falls on us and we have to help them find homes, hence why land-banking still needs to continue,” said City Planning and Development Office chief Ramil Balquin.

During the July 6 program ‘Planning and Development: In Focus’’ hosted by the City Information Office, Balquin said City Hall needs to see the results of the latest inventory of lands in Cagayan de Oro City to determine if there are still more suitable areas to allocate for relocation.

“Hence why we need to update our Comprehensive Land Use Plan,” Balquin said.

Balquin said they were given until December this year by Mayor Rolando Uy to update the city’s CLUP.

The city’s land banking program which involves the purchase of lands by City Hall was initiated in the early 90s under the late former mayor Pablo ‘Ambing’ Magtajas and is intended to provide relocation sites to displaced settlers.

With an expanding population due to more people from nearby areas moving into the city, Balquin acknowledged that the challenge to provide land becomes problematic.

“Obviously our land area can only accommodate so much. That’s why Mayor (Uy) saw the potential for us to expand our land area through reclamation. And there are already interested investors and there are mechanisms in place (for this),” he said.

Uy ordered the creation of the City Reclamation Board this year which he chairs along with Councilor Edgar Cabanlas.

The Uy administration is looking to develop an initial 20 hectares at a proposed realignment of the ongoing coastal road project stretching from Barangays Gusa to Cugman.

“We’re still undergoing technical consultations with the PRA (Philippine Reclamation Authority) on this,” Balquin said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)