THE Office of Civil Defense (OCD) has allocated P32 million for the construction of a “disaster-proof” building that will be used for mass evacuation in the region.
Harold Alcontin of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) said construction of the regional evacuation center is set to begin in August.
“The building can withstand strong earthquakes. It will be a multi-purpose building since it will have training and conference rooms, material recovery facility, and rain catchment,” said Alcontin.
The center, which will be built on a government lot in Barangay Apas, Cebu City, is a joint undertaking of the OCD, CDRRMC, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), Armed Forces of the Philippines-Central Command (Centcom) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Once completed, the building can accommodate up to 200 families.
It will be constructed on a 3,000-square meter lot that was donated by Centcom.
“There are ongoing dialogs to settle some legal matters. Consultations with the families that will be affected by the construction are also being done,” said Kathy dela Calzada of PDRRMO.
Dela Calzada said Cebu City and Cebu province are working on some legal issues as Cebu City residents who will be displaced due to the construction will be relocated to a province-owned lot.
Dela Calzada said that once a dialogue among the five agencies involved in the project is done, there will be a signing of a memorandum of agreement.
Yesterday, geodetic engineers inspected the site which will be followed by the profiling of affected families.
Clearing operations and the ground-breaking ceremony may be done in July, said Dela Calzada.