30% of Marawi rehab done so far a year before Dec. 2021 deadline

MANILA, Philippines — Only up to 30 percent of the targeted construction for the rehabilitation of Marawi City has so been accomplished, a little over a year before its eyed completion.

This was disclosed during Thursday’s Senate deliberations on the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) budget, whose secretary also heads the government’s Task Force Bangon Marawi.

“(Secretary Eduardo del Rosario) says the accomplishment rate, as of today, ay nandun po sa mga [is about] 20 to 30 percent,” said Senator Risa Hontiveros, who defended the budget of the DHUSD.

The Marawi rehabilitation is expected to be completed by December 2021, according to the senator.

In terms of transitory shelters, 2,859 of the targeted 4,852 housing units are completed, Hontiveros said.

“Their accomplishment rate for this particular item on transitory shelters, 60 percent of housing targets and 60 percent of land development today,” she added.

For the permanent housing, some 2,000 units are targeted to be completed by next month. The task force has reached 46-percent completion of the said project, the senator told her colleagues.

Notices of award for the construction of road infrastructure have been issued, she, meanwhile, said.

“For primary roads, in the amount of P671.034 million, secondary roads: P488.88 million and for tertiary roads P1.510 billion,” she added.

Hontiveros further mentioned that in terms of debris management, Eddmari Construction and Trading was contracted under a negotiated procurement with a start date of March 2019.

“The completion date was supposed to be February 18 this year, 2020 to cover the clearing of 250 hectares in MAAs (main affected areas),” she noted.

The indicative amount for the Marawi rehabilitation totals to P60.5 billion, according to Hontiveros.

As of November, P36.1 billion has been released. Some P5 billion is appropriated for the rehabilitation of the war-torn city for 2021. [ac]