Vice President Jejomar C. Binay said the Philippines is happy to share its community based approaches in addressing housing needs as it hosts the South-South Exchange Mission between Bangladesh and the Philippines.
“We would be happy to share with you our knowledge. I’ve been a local government official for 21 years and I know the importance of local government units in housing that is why I introduced active participation of LGUs in meeting the housing problem,” Binay said during the Bangladeshi delegation’s courtesy call at the Coconut palace.
“Everything starts from the local government that is why we have the Comprehensive Land Use Plan that we require from Local Government Units which will be used to determine how much land will be used for purposes of housing,” Binay added.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Secretary of Housing and Public Works Dr. Khondaker Showkat Hossain congratulated the Philippines for successfully integrating communities as stakeholders in its housing projects.
“We congratulate the Philippines on the success of the projects you are organizing for the disadvantaged people. This is not charity. This is organization motivation and not charity. They are doing it by themselves,” Hossain said.
“We have seen a new dimension wherein the community can organize their financial capacity. In the past we were in a dilemma if this can be successful. But here it is proven that the community can work,” he added.
The South-South Exchange program between Bangladesh and the Philippines is part of the preparation of a Pro-Poor Slums Integration Project being developed by Bangladesh’s National Housing Authority and Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
This study visit to the Philippines, aims to provide the Bangladeshi delegation with learning activities that will contribute to the development of pilot projects, based on customized adoption of country-applicable practices.
Given the multi-stakeholder nature of engagement required for successful slum approaches, this learning program aims to strengthen and improve collaboration, teamwork, and consensus among government and non-government actors in Bangladesh.
