LEGAZPI CITY, Jan 26 (PIA) —The government is poised to move about 200 families from their shanties on hazardous areas in Camarines Sur for their own safety, a government spokesperson said Friday.
The plan is to save the informal settlers in Tinambac town from being sweeped away by floods and twisters, said Evelyn Jerusalem, the Department of Social Welfate and Development’s information officer for Bicol.
Jerusalem said the municipal government provided the land as its counterpart for the P14-million “core shelter” project, which is funded by the DSWD and supervised by the municipal engineering office.
The land has been inspected by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, she said.
Jerusalem said the relocation project mainly intended to provide decent and typhoon-resistant shelters to informal settlers who had been living in low-lying areas of Barangays Antipolo, Bulao, Balite, Bangi, Cagliliog, Magtang, Sugod, Bataan, Tierra Nevada, Olag Pegueño, Canayunan and Lupi.
She said core shelters are designed to withstand wind velocity of up to 180 kilometers per hour and magnitude-4 earthquake.
Jerusalem said each family received a check for P70,000 from DSWD core shelter assistance coordinator Maritess Quosmorio in simple ceremonies witnessed by Mayor Ruel Velarde and Vice Mayor Jun Barrion.
The beneficiaries have been organized and trained in canvassing, purchasing of construction materials and monitoring of the shelter construction, she added. PIA5-albay/dswd5