Korean gov’t vows to rebuild Eastern Samar hospital

GUIUAN, Eastern Samar, March 21 (PNA) - The Korean Agency for International Cooperation (KOICA) has pledged to reconstruct the public hospital here damaged by super typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

Mayor Christopher Sheen Gonzalez confirmed that he’s been meeting with KOICA representatives to firm up construction plans for the Felipe Abrigo Memorial Hospital, named after a post-war lawmaker who represented Samar province from 1957 to 1972 in the House of Representatives.

“The health facility is owned by the provincial government, but since it is located in our town, we have to help in looking for donors who are willing to fund the reconstruction of the hospital,” Gonzalez said.

The 50-bed hospital has been providing health services to residents from this town and the nearby Mercedes, Salcedo and Quinapundan towns.

Guiuan, some 144 kilometers east of Tacloban City, is a coastal town facing the Pacific Ocean It is a first class town with a population of nearly 53,000.

“Not only people from Guiuan will benefit once the new building is completed because this is the only government hospital in this part of Eastern Samar,” the mayor said.

The health facility was badly damaged by super typhoon Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013. The hospital resumed its operation using a transitional facility made out of materials that can only last for five years.

After super typhoon Yolanda, KOICA financed the construction of a municipal recovery facility to address the waste disposal problem of the town.

KOICA was established in 1991 by the South Korean government to enhance its delivery of Official Development Assistance to developing countries. (PNA)
BS/SQM/ROEL T. AMAZONA/EGR