Daanbantayan rehab work done ‘by year’s end yet’

CEBU, Philippines - Daanbantayan Mayor Augusto Corro yesterday admitted that they are not even halfway yet in their rehabilitation works after super typhoon Yolanda struck last November.

He said they are hoping that before the year ends everything are completed.

“Sa school buildings, so far, naa pay gap of 30 percent. Ang 70 percent, on-going pa, ang uban na-turn over na. Mga 30 to 40 percent pa gyud ang nahuman na. But I’m positive, before the year ends, 100 percent na ta,” said Corro in a press conference.

Corro said the same scenario is true with their infrastructure projects, particularly the relocation sites.

As to the classrooms, the mayor said non-government organizations like the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. are helping them repair those damaged by Yolanda. An organization based in Luxemburg has also offered to donate some classrooms, he said.

Corro said the Department of Education has also promised to build 120 classrooms in northern Cebu, of which Daanbantayan is among the recipients. But while these have not yet materialized, the students are attending classes under makeshift tents, which Corro said is only “temporary” while the classrooms are still being repaired, he said.

He said the town’s public market and its cultural center will also be repaired soon. He likewise said the construction of the first phase of the public market’s repair was already bid out and works would commence anytime soon.

Meanwhile, through various local and international NGOs, the town would also build at least 400 housing units in three relocation sites for families living in danger zones.

Construction of 34 duplex houses and seven single detached units in Barangay Aguho has already been started. This particular project is sponsored by Habitat for Humanity Philippines. More houses, which would complete the target 400 plus units, would also rise in Barangays Paypay and Poblacion.

Corro admitted that the more than 400 units is not enough to relocate the over 3,000 families living in danger  zones (which include islets and mountain barangays).

He, however, is positive that, all the people would be transferred to safer areas in time. Corro said that while they have many donors for housing units (Red Cross has reportedly committed to build 1,600 units), Daanbantayan’s problem is where these houses would be constructed.

The town’s two relocations sites are not also supported by legal documents yet, causing delay in the construction, which he said yesterday has already been addressed at.

For now, however, Corro said he has allowed the families, despite fears of a storm surge, to rebuild their homes in the same location.

“Layo pa kaayo sa (We are still very far from our) target. So we just let the people build their houses where they are now,” Corro said.

He hoped to allocate at least one hectare of each of the town’s 20 barangays as relocation site where housing units will be constructed. (FREEMAN)