During the grassroots consultation here, NHA-Eastern Visayas
Regional Manager Rizalde Mediavillo said the National Electrification
Administration (NEA) will download funds to electric cooperatives for the free
electricity connection.
“We already forwarded the list of beneficiaries with awarded
permanent housing units to NEA. This is the directive of President Rodrigo
Duterte to encourage beneficiaries to move to their new homes,” Mediavillo
said.
The official did not cite the total budget for individual power
connection, but said each housing unit would need an average of PHP5,000.
He admitted that many beneficiaries have refused to leave unsafe
zones and transfer to resettlement sites because the houses are not yet ready
for occupancy.
“We don’t want to see families returning to their old places near
the shore because their new houses have no electricity and water,” Mediavillo
added.
As for water, there are stopgap measures to address the immediate
needs of families pending the completion of permanent water supply projects by
the Local Water Utilities Authority.
However, Jojo Carlos, 50, a fisherman from this town’s coastal
village of San Mateo, said they don’t just need power in their new homes, but
source of livelihood as well.
“What’s the point of having a new house if we have no money to buy
food for our family? Fishing is my only source of livelihood,” Carlos told
reporters.
The Community of Yolanda Survivors and Partners (CYSP), which was
barred from joining the consultation at the Holy Cross College here, opposes
the demolition of all structures occupying public land along the coastal area.
CYSP co-coordinator Rina Reyes said fishermen need their old
houses to keep their fishing paraphernalia.
“They were promised a storage for their gears, but this too seemed
to have been forgotten. In the meantime that they have no place to store their
equipment, they are holding on to their old homes to hold their equipment and
few prized possessions,” Reyes said.
The NHA has completed about half of the 56,000 targeted permanent
houses in Eastern Visayas as of this month, according to Mediavillo.
In Leyte alone, the NHA conveyed during the consultation that
PHP1.94 billion of the PHP4.5 billion budget for the province had already been
disbursed for the construction of permanent houses. The government aims to
complete all projects by 2019.
Presidential Adviser on Special Concerns Undersecretary Wendel
Avisado has called for stronger coordination, consultation, and cooperation to
complete all post-Yolanda projects.
“Consultations are very important if we want the national
government to succeed in implementing programs, projects and activities,
especially after disaster,” Avisado said.
The Palace official vowed to report to President Ropdrigo R.
Duterte all concerns of survivors, local government units, and implementers
from the national government.
The first leg of the series of consultations was held in
relocation sites in Tacloban City on March 19-20. It was followed by dialogues
in Basey, Samar (April 10); and Carigara, Leyte (April 11).
Upcoming consultations are to be held in Isabel, Leyte (April 12);
Naval, Biliran (April 17); Silago, Southern Leyte; Guiuan, Eastern Samar (April
26); and Balangiga, Eastern Samar (April 27).
The activity gathers issues and concerns encountered by survivors
in resettlement sites and convene concerned government agencies to identify
interventions that would ensure sustainability of resettlement projects and
improve their quality of life.
After the consultation, the Office of the President expects to
formulate the multi-year post-resettlement program for submission and approval
of the President and the inter-agency task force.
The consultation includes reporting of the status of projects for
every cluster, open forum, and ocular inspection of resettlement sites.
The central government has already released PHP146.15 billion for
areas ravaged by the 2013 monster typhoon as of end of last year. (SQM/PNA)
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