SHDA WELCOMES THE SUPPORT OF JAMES HARDIE PHILIPPINES
August 27, 2002
The Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, Inc. (SHDA) the country’s largest and leading organization of subdivision and housing developers has announced its partnership with James Hardie Philippines, Inc. in the conduct of the association’s numerous activities and advocacies.
SHDA National President, Mr. Jesus Atencio said that the SHDA-James Hardie Philippines partnership is in line with one of the SHDA objectives of promoting efficiency in housing construction. “The use of new construction materials and the adoption of innovative technologies will ultimately bring down construction costs; thus, will further enhance access and affordability of home buyers”.
James Hardie is the leader in the growing worldwide market for fiber cement building products and systems. Established in Australia in 1988, James Hardie grew rapidly, discovering and developing new ideas in construction materials. In the 1980′s, James Hardie was the first in the world to develop asbestos-free fiber cement. Today, James Hardie has reached out to the rest of Asia Pacific, North and South America. James Hardie Philippines, which was established in 1996 provides durable building solutions for the Filipino. In 1998, a world-class fiber cement plant was established in Cabuyao, Laguna representing one of the biggest Australian investments in the country.
The SHDA-James Hardie alliance will provide SHDA member-developers with advantages in terms of preferential access and special pricing for the various James Hardie product lines. Also, the SHDA-James Hardie partnership will pave way for dialogues and fora that will lead towards attaining the basic objective of enhancing affordability and access to better quality housing.
LANDS FOR 20,000 HOUSES AWAIT DAR CONVERSION
August 5, 2002
Property developers affiliated with the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA) have complained/reported that lands intended as housing subdivision projects, with combined capacity to produce some 20,000 housing units, are still awaiting the conversion approval or clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform.
Jesus B. Atencio, newly-installed SHDA national president, announced partial results gathered from the recent housing production inventory survey conducted by SHDA among its member developers nationwide to monitor the action being undertaken by different government departments and agencies on the developers applications for housing related permits and clearance for their housing projects.
“DAR’s cooperation level is rather disappointing. At least 29 projects capable of turning out 20,000 new housing units are still awaiting action with DAR regional and central offices,” Atencio reported, and Sec. Braganza apparently doesn’t appreciate the urgency of the matter.
“Even as developers are hopeful over the government’s issuance of E.O. 45, which prescribes time periods in the issuance of housing permits and clearances, as well as provides sanctions for failure to observe the same, they have yet to feel the full impact of the presidential order in the developers efforts to move housing in 2002 and beyond,” he pointed out.
On the other hand, Lawyer Teofisto L. Guingona III, SHDA chairman, clarified that SHDA is willing to sit down with its DAR counterparts in ironing out any administrative kinks and in clearing any bottlenecks that may be encountered in land conversion for housing purposes.
The 20,000 housing units expected to be build on these lands applied for conversion would greatly push the government’s target of putting up 300,000 low-cost housing per year, he said.
“In addition, this will mobilize fresh productive employment for workers; stimulate business among housing’s many allied industries that could ultimately contribute to the perking up of the national economy,” Guingona III asserted.
In terms alone of mobilizing home financing from private banks and government financial institutions, these 20,000 units would need a total of P5-billion in funds at an average loan value of P250,000 per housing unit. Guingona III added.