THE onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge facing the real-estate sector since the 1997 Asian financial contagion.
In a study, the Lobien Realty Group pointed out that the Covid-19 pandemic has delivered a lethal blow to the local real-estate industry resulting in the halting of a lot of business and economic activities in the country.
Being responsible corporate citizens, the private sector particularly real-estate developers introduced measures to uplift the well-being of their personnel, the workplace and the community.
PHirst Park Homes Inc. (PPHI), the affordable housing firm of Century Properties Group and Mitsubishi Corp., recently conducted Covid-19 rapid testing for 100 percent of its site personnel on May 18 and 19 as it resumed construction in its five project sites in Tanza, Cavite; Lipa, Batangas; San Pablo and Calamba, Laguna; and Pandi, Bulacan.
“Our policy is only those who would test negative will be allowed back to the project sites. Workers who are fit to work will stay on site for the duration of the construction and will undergo daily health monitoring and thermal scanning,” PPHI President Ricky M. Celis said in a press statement.
Celis said PPHI directly tested 700 workers, which include both construction workers and project site personnel such as security guards, maintenance, and property management staff. Meanwhile, PPHI’s contractor Megawide Construction Corp. also conducted tests to its personnel who have started returning to PPHI sites, bringing the total number to more than 800 workers.
PPHI’s five projects in north Luzon and Calabarzon covers a total of 91 hectares and 8,799 units. Moreover, Celis said the tests were conducted in these areas as part of the company’s Covid-19 prevention and control measures for all project sites, where workers are also provided with the appropriate sleeping quarters, canteen and handwashing stations. He also pointed out orientations were given by PPHI to enforce proper hygiene, as well as social distancing.
Aside from following the guidelines issued by the national government, Celis pointed out that these measures are critical in the efforts of the local government units to contain and further prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease outside of Metro Manila.
“With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the entire country, housing developers like us are called to embrace bayanihan and help in ways with lasting impacts. Aside from safeguarding the health of families inside our own developments, these measures of PPHI contribute and support the provinces of Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, and Bulacan in their respective efforts to protect their entire communities and industries,” added Celis, who is also the president of the National Real Estate Association.
The PPHI partnered with Centuria Medical Makati, Raya Wellness and Preventive Medicine, and Megawide Construction Corp. for this initiative.