Site builder for Cebu ‘Yolanda’ victims complains of difficulty

A contractor building a relocation site for victims of Supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’ in Daanbantayan, Cebu, said it was still having difficulty getting permits from the local government. GOOGLE MAPS

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino has ordered the contractor of a relocation site for families displaced by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” to turn over housing units to the beneficiaries before the end of the year.

On orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, Dino on Sunday went to the northern towns of Cebu that were battered by the supertyphoon in 2013 to check on the status of rehabilitation projects in the area.

READ: Duterte sets deadline for ‘Yolanda’ shelters

His first stop was a P187-million relocation site in Sitio Ayong, Barangay Maya, Daanbantayan town. The 5.5-hectare property is the site for 650 25-square meter units by Hi-Tri Development Corporation.

“I feel bad because we’ve been waiting for this in a long time,” he said during the site visit and ordered the contractor to turn over the houses to Yolanda victims before yearend.

Project Engineer Joseph Densing promised to turn over 36 units by December and complete the project by May 2017.

Densing said they were still having difficulty securing permits from the local government unit. Daanbantayan,  123 km north of Cebu City, is at the northern tip of Cebu and was among the areas badly hit by Yolanda.

More than three years after the onslaught of the strongest typhoon to hit land, the National Housing Authority, tasked to implement resettlement projects in the Yolanda corridor, still hasn’t completed a single one.

Dino was also set to visit Bantayan Island, where the towns of Bantayan, Sta. Fe, and Madridejos were also badly damaged by the typhoon. CBB/rga

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