Photo by RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net
LUCENA CITY—With thousands of felled coconut trees in typhoon-devastated farms in Eastern Samar, a group of rescuers who just came from the area is looking for skilled coconut lumber workers to cut and use the wood for a planned mass housing project for the survivors.
“We need experienced coconut lumber cutters with chainsaws. We will bring them to Samar ASAP (as soon as possible) at no cost to them,” said Noel Suministrado, a pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), in an interview here on Friday.
Suministrado said every volunteer would receive payment for his work. “We will take care of their food, tents and fuel for their equipment,” he said.
Suministrado said the wood cutting operation would probably last for two weeks.
He also appealed to coconut lumber traders to join them in the noble undertaking by lending them their miniband saws for a speedy production.
“There are lots of homeless typhoon victims. Our common goal is to provide at least 100 [housing] units made from coconut lumber before Christmas,” Suministrado said.
He said they would want to build more but it would depend on their donors, who had already pledged to shoulder the costs of other housing materials.
Suministrado was part of the “Mission: Eastern Samar Assessment” team composed of members from Gaia Exploration Club, Krisis Commons, the University of the Philippines Mountaineers and Support of Sorsoganons, who conducted relief, rescue and assessment operations in Eastern Samar for two weeks. Suministrado returned here on Thursday.
Suministrado said they had some architect and engineer volunteers, who would help them design houses that could adapt to the changing weather patterns.
“The locals can rebuild their houses through bayanihan (mutual help),” he said.
Suministrado said they noticed that pawid (cogon grass) had withstood winds much better than galvanized iron roofs.
He said the team planned to have a pilot barangay, which they would replicate in other affected areas.
“We’re racing against time. We were told that felled coconut trees easily rot,” said the UCCP pastor, also a veteran mountaineer.
He said any interested coconut lumber cutters could contact them through the group’s Facebook page—Mission: Eastern Samar Assessment (www.facebook.com/ pages/Mission-Eastern-Samar-Assessment/542780315799059).
Suministrado said there were a lot of felled coconut trees in typhoon-ravaged areas but no one was cutting and turning them into usable pieces of lumber to build houses for the victims.
He said they had the go-signal and support of concerned provincial officials for the tree-cutting and mass housing project.
Suministrado said their team had decided to focus on Eastern Samar, as it also needed attention because it had no electricity and received very little relief, and communication had yet to be fully restored.
“A large number of people badly needed relief goods. There is also not much loss of life reported but large damage to infrastructure,” he said.
During their stay in Eastern Samar, Suministrado said they had provided communication to local relief leaders via a satellite phone that linked them with their own leaders to enhance coordination.