Quake rehab coming along in Bohol, Cebu

The government has completed more than 400 rehabilitation projects in Bohol and Cebu provinces almost two years after a magnitude-7.2 earthquake rocked the Central Visayas region, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said on Saturday.

The powerful October 2013 quake left over 200 people dead, triggered landslides and destroyed major infrastructure, including centuries-old churches.

In a statement, Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento urged local government units to fast-track rehabilitation efforts under the Bohol Earthquake Assistance (BEA) project in all affected areas.

“We’re happy that more than 400 damaged municipal and village facilities were reconstructed through the BEA project,” Sarmiento said. “I congratulate all the LGUs that completed the rehabilitation projects in their municipalities.”

Reconstruction projects

“I ask the other LGUs to hasten the completion of their projects so the delivery of public services would return to normal,” he added.

Of the 1,079 reconstruction projects, 412 have been completed, the interior secretary said.

He said 267 projects were in progress, 274 were in the procurement phase, and 85 others had been approved.

He said documentary requirements were being processed for the remaining 41 projects.

According to Sarmiento, the national government allocated a total of P2.4 billion for the rehabilitation of Central Visayas under the Post Great Bohol Earthquake Rehabilitation Plan which was prepared and approved by the Bohol provincial government.

Third-quarter deadline

He said the projects, which were expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2016, included the reconstruction and repair of public infrastructure owned and managed by the local governments.

Among the completed projects were the repair of 23 civic centers and 339 barangay halls, daycare centers and health centers. The rehabilitation of 19 public markets, 18 town halls and 13 waterworks systems were also finished.

Except for eight projects, Sarmiento said all the completed reconstruction projects were in Bohol, the province worst-hit by the earthquake.

“In Bohol, (only) eight of the 43 LGUs had completed the rehabilitation of all subprojects in their respective municipalities,” he said.

He said the rehabilitation projects were done “with due consideration for the ‘build back better’ design for disaster-resilient public infrastructure.”