P52M set aside for school repairs

CEBU City’s Local School Board will allocate P52 million to bankroll the repair of classrooms damaged by the Oct. 15 earthquake.

LSB head Jose Daluz III said the amount will also cover the purchase of tents which will be used as temporary classrooms and the salaries of casuals who will work on the 138 schools with damaged classrooms and buildings.

Among the hardest hit were the Don Carlos Gothong Memorial National High School in San Nicolas Proper, the Abellana National High School at Osmeña Boulevard and the elementary school in the mountain barangay of Toong.

In Gothong, 41 of 78 classrooms were ordered abandoned by LSB engineers due to fallen ceilings and damaged electrical connections.

The second floor’s wall was damaged while additional staircases are needed for pupils in case of emergencies, Daluz said.

In Toong, the earthquake severed the columns and beams of one school building.

“We are working on the repairs this week. Right now naa sila (occupants of the damaged classrooms) sa grounds nag tent,” Daluz told Cebu Daily News.

Vice Mayor Edgar Labella said the city needed donations of used tarpaulins from advertising firms and the business sector for makeshift classrooms especially in the mountain barangays.

“I brought many tarpaulins at the mountain barangays to serve as roof for the pupils,” the vice mayor said. Daluz said P12 million out of the 52 million will be spent for tents and construction materials.

Another P10 million and later P30 million will be allocated based on the recommendation of LSB engineers to speed up repair and rehabilitation of the earthquake-damaged classrooms.

Part of the appropriation, he said, will also be spent for steel staircases to be installed at 17 to 18 public schools found with inadequate stairways.

“We are opting for steel staircases because it’s easier to install,” Daluz said. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac