Dipolog City – Zamboanga del Norte Governor Roberto Uy has committed two areas to serve as the resettlement for families who are returning to the province from the urban centers under the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program pushed by Senator Christopher Lawrence Go.
Zamboanga del Norte has the highest number of BPBPP applicants among all Mindanao provinces with almost 1,000 families followed by Zamboanga del Sur, Davao Del Sur and Lanao del Norte.
During the consultative conference held at the provincial capitol on Wednesday which was participated in by the regional heads of the agencies involved in the BPBPP, Gov. Uy said the two resettlement areas will be in Sergio Osmeña and Calawit towns.
Sergio Osmeña, a town known for its cool climate and upland vegetables, is in the eastern part of the province while Kalawit, a new town with vast unpopulated areas, is in the western portion of the 700,000-hectare province.
The heads of agencies who participated in the consultations through ZOOM conferencing committed their agencies’ support for the BPBPP implementation in Zamboanga del Norte.
Among the steps expected to be taken immediately as agreed in Wednesday’s conference were:
1. The BPBPP Council will be asked to forward to the Zamboanga del Norte Local Government Unit (LGU) the list of about 1,000 applicants from which the LGU will select the first 400 participants, at 200 families per resettlement area before the end of May 2020.
2. As soon as the first 400 families are identified, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) which coordinates the BPBPP Program in Mindanao, will ask the Council to task DSWD to undertake the social preparation and orientation by the first week of June.
3. The Department of Health (DOH) will be asked through the BPBPP Council to conduct medical check and quarantine protocols for the family members during the period of orientation;
4. After the medical check, the returning families will be brought home to Zamboanga del Norte first where with the help of TESDA, they will be trained on basic carpentry and welding for two weeks so they could help in the construction of their own homes for which they will be paid daily wages;
5. The Zamboanga del Norte LGU has agreed to provide temporary shelter facilities to the returning families until the housing units are completed by the end of September;
6. Between the date of the arrival of the families up to the time of the actual relocation in the resettlement areas, the woman-members of the families will be trained in activities closely related to the chosen main undertaking of the BPBPP Resettlement like Organic Broiler Chicken Raising and Organic Vegetable Farming for the Osmeña site;
7. MinDA, through the BPBPP Council, will engage the Department of Agriculture (DA) for support in the food production and agricultural activities to be undertaken by the participants and thenDepartment of Tourism to develop the rural resettlement sites into Farm Tourism destinations;
8. Other member-agencies of the BPBPP Council will also be engaged in specific projects to ensure the success of the initiative.
Gov. Uy said the province, with a total land area of 700,000 hectares, could accommodate all of the returning families provided the BPBPP Council will ensure a sustainable support for the program.
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