ZAMBOANGA CITY (Edgar Estrada / 20 Sept) The United Nations Act for Peace Programme has allocated P4.5 million for the construction of about 200 houses for the original settlers, mostly families of former Muslim, of the Eleven Islands, a group of scatted islands off the eastern coast of Zamboanga City.
The ACT for Peace Programme provides 200 housing units as an initial assistance to rebuild the communities of the eleven islands that has been deserted for over three decades due to intermittent armed conflict in the area.
“We are very happy now that we have returned to our ancestral land,” a former Moro National Liberation Front commander, Akbari Samson, told the Mindanao Examiner.
James Ali T. Abdul, area manager of the UN Act for Peace Programme, said the peace-building initiatives are supported by the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Spain. For 2006, the Programme has total budget of P32 million worth of aid for Western Mindanao, including Lanao del Norte province and Isabela City in Basilan island.
“For the Eleven Islands, we have plans to build a health station worth P500, 000, and allotted another P500, 000 for “Bantay-Dagat” or ecological preservation project,” Abdul said.
He said in five years time, their aim is to build 263 Peace and Development Communities across the region.
Samson said the elders of the community helped in identifying the beneficiaries of the community-building program of the government numbering to about 200 families, each of whom will be given core shelter housing worth P22, 5000.
“Our immediate needs right now are potable water which we still buy from the mainland at P1.50 per 20-liter container and of course electricity,” he said. The city government, he said, promised to provide water and electricity in the future.
Other government line agencies like the City Office of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) started conducting training on livelihood like the growing of grouper and seaweeds.
The settlers also started growing rice and vegetables on the island, Samson said.
Zamboanga City Mayor Celso L. Lobregat had said the Eleven Islands could be developed as a tourist destination as it boast of white sand beaches that are comparable to Boracay Island in the central Philippines.
A peace covenant outlining interventions to develop the once so-called “no man’s land” into a peaceful community was earlier signed by the Zamboanga City government, the military’s Western Mindanao Command, the Philippine National Police, government line agencies and the community leaders.
The parties agreed to make appropriate basic socio-economic services and facilities accessible to the residents of Eleven Islands; conduct capacity-building activities for the community to actively participate in decision-making processes; and observe transparency and rule of law.
The signatories also agreed to recognize and promote the community’s cultural beliefs and traditions and to involve the community in any eco-tourism development on the islands.
The return of the inhabitants, who are mostly Yakan and Samal, to the islands, was facilitated by MINDACOMNET, an organization of government information officers and tri-media group.
Early this year, MINDACOMNET, in partnership with GOP-UNMDP ACT for Peace conducted social preparation processes, which included consultation meetings with the community to assess their needs, thereby rationalize development interventions for the islands.
The community of the Eleven Islands is among the new 263 communities to be assisted by the ACT for Peace Programme during its five-year implementation to strengthen peace-building efforts in Southern Philippines.
Supported by the government of Australia, New Zealand and Spain, the ACT for Peace is currently assisting 263 Peace and Development Communities (PDCs) in Southern Philippines, 22 of which are in Zamboanga Peninsula region.
Also present during the project launching and turn over of check held last July, this year were Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commanding general Western Mindanao Command; Nasser Manalo, state chair of the Lanao del Norte State Revolutionary Committee of the MNLF; Dr. Edilgario Gonzales, president, Western Mindanao State University, officers from the PNP, officials from government line agencies and members of the community.
1 comment:
Whoo hoo. More houses to come. I hope.
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