COTABATO CITY (PIA) - The Ministry of Human Settlements and Development (MSHD) led the ground breaking ceremony last Wednesday for the construction of the 150 housing units worth P82 million in Pigcawayan, Cotabato and Barira, Maguindanao, which will serve as resettlement site for former combatants and their families.

Funded under the Special Development Fund 2020 and the General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro (GAAB) 2021, MSHD said that it will ensure the quality of each unit as this will serve as new home for former combatants.        

MHSD Minister Hamid Aminoddin Barra said the housing project is  one of the deliverables that their office is doing to help Bangsamoro communities that suffered decades of armed hostilities to recover.

“We are mandated to build houses for the underprivileged Bangsamoro families in support to moral governance upheld by the BARMM government,” Minister Barra added.

Barra mentioned that four towns in Lanao del Sur have benefited from the same project, including the provincial islands of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, as well as the city of Cotabato.

“By next week, we will be signing a contract with the island provinces for the construction of 600 housing units,” he said.

Representatives of the partner construction firms committed to complete the housing units in accordance with the plan and specifications of the project.

The said resettlement housing project is expected to be completed in July 2022. (With reports from BIO-BARMM)