Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:26 pm | Sunday, January 12th, 2014
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – More than two months after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” ravaged Eastern Visayas, the government has yet to construct new school buildings to replace 100-plus educational facilities either severely damaged or totally destroyed by the natural calamity.
Rolando Asis, director of the Department of Public Works and Highways-Region 8 office in Tacloban City, on Sunday said they had yet to receive orders from the DPWH head office in Manila to start putting up new school buildings in the Leyte and Samar provinces.
“As to the construction of new ones to replace destroyed school buildings, there are no plans yet received (by the DPWH regional office) from the top management,” he told the INQUIRER.
Asis, however, said “repair works on over 830 partially damaged school buildings in the region are ongoing.”
Asked when they would be completed, he said “it depends on the availability of construction materials, including good lumber and G.I. sheets.”
Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson earlier said the repair and rehabilitation of storm-damaged public infrastructures like roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and rural health units, can be completed in one year.
In a DPWH report on its “Operation Yolanda” program, a copy of which was furnished this paper, the agency’s Public Information Division disclosed that in their Tacloban City and Leyte I engineering districts alone, 47 and 46 school buildings, respectively, were either severely damaged or totally destroyed by the typhoon.
The DPWH regional office had recommended for their “replacement or reconstruction,” but did not provide any time frame.
The totally damaged facilities include 15 units at the Sto. Niño SPED Center; three units at the Salvador Elementary School; three units at the Anibong Elementary School; two units at the Remedios Romualdez Elementary School; a unit at the Cirilo Roy Montejo National High School; and a unit at the Panalaron Central School; Salvador Elementary Schools, among others.
In another report, the agency said that nearly 600 public schools in nine Eastern Visayas engineering districts were “waiting for construction materials needed for the repair of various school buildings.”
These include 34 school buildings in Tacloban City district; 30 in Leyte I; 135 in Leyte III; 127 in Leyte IV; 38 in Leyte V; 14 in Southern Leyte; 26 in Northern Samar II; 122 in Samar I, and 70 in Samar II.
In a related development, contractors hired by the DPWH have put up another four bunkhouses, bringing to 126 the total number of temporary shelters built for the typhoon survivors.
Of the initial 222 bunkhouses the government had planned to build, only 122 were constructed before the Christmas break.
The same contractors have resumed work on the 96 partially completed temporary shelters, said Asis, noting “all bunkhouses are expected to be finished by the end of January.”
That is, “if weather conditions in the Leyte and Samar areas cooperate,” he also said.
Additional bunkhouse construction projects in Eastern Visayas “would depend on available resettlement sites (to be provided by local government units),” he added.
The DPWH had promised to put up at least 119 bunkhouses by Dec. 15 and another 23 units by Dec. 20. However, only 86 temporary shelters were constructed by Dec. 17.
Worse, only two of them – both in Barangay (village) Candahug in Palo town, Leyte – were turned over by President Aquino during his visit to the storm-devastated province last Dec. 22.
Last week, Singson announced the agency would adjust the sizes of bunkhouses to “conform to acceptable international standards.”
“Each bunkhouse is divided into 24 units. But some international observers noted that the allocated area of 8.64 square meters per unit should have been wider. The Department of Social Welfare and Development has the option to allow families with more than four members to use two adjacent units…It’s easy to dismantle the partitions between two units so that each family can occupy a wider area of 17.28 square meters,” he said in a statement.
Singson assured “temporary shelters will provide them with decent living quarters rather than in tents or evacuation centers where they are exposed to natural elements.”
He said, “it will take some time to identify the sites for permanent housing and eventually the construction of permanent housing structures for these displaced families.”
Earlier, the DPWH head said the agency will need at least P15 billion for the construction of temporary shelters for the typhoon survivors.
“The repair and rehabilitation of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, rural health units, and other public infrastructures can be completed in one year. But it’s the shelter program that will take at least three years, which is fast enough,” he added.
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/562519/e-visayas-still-awaiting-govt-to-rebuild-destroyed-schools#ixzz2qC9DN2N2
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