DILG to send more engineers to speed up rehab of quake-hit areas

Baclayon church is still under repair a year after the 7.2 earthquake hit Bohol. (CDN PHOTO/ LITO TECSON)

The Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) will hire additional engineers to help out municipal engineers speed up implementation of projects in earthquake hit areas.

Interior and Local Governments Secretary Mar Roxas, who visited Bohol province as it marked the one year observance of the Oct. 15 earthquake last Wednesday, said they sent 15 engineers to help prepare the projects but “these aren’t enough.”

“Imagine, there’s only one municipal engineer to study, design and map out 56 projects. The engineers we sent will help the municipal engineers who are unfamiliar with building quake resistant shelters for the victims,” he said.

Of the P2.3 billion set aside by the DILG for the quake hit local governments in Cebu and Bohol, about P600 million were allotted for the rehabilitation of damaged heritage churches and other historical sites.

He said the DILG allocated P82.789 million to 13 local governments in Cebu that were hit by the earthquake. The budget went to rebuilding markets, civic centers and daycare facilities, he said.

“There were some local governments in Bohol that received a bigger share like Loon town in Bohol province which got P196 million,” the DILG secretary said.

“The source of the damage in Bohol is unique because it is caused by the quake. That’s why we are hiring additional engineers to check whether these structures only need repair or would have to be torn down and rebuilt because there are structures that may have sustained minimal damage and can still be saved,” he added.

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said one other factor contributing to the delay in funding projects is identifying suitable relocation sites for the displaced quake victims.

“The land is available but more often than not it is undesirable because for one, they are located in unsuitable terrain in the countryside. On the other hand when we look at the city the land prices there are prohibitive,” Abad said.

“The money is there and we’re here to make sure that the local governments are empowered (to carry out these rehabilitation projects),” he added.

Abad, Roxas and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda were in Cebu City to attend the two-day Good Governance Dialogue held at the Crown Regency Hotel that opened yesterday.

The dialogue is participated in by local government units (LGUs) in Central Visayas as well as stakeholders in the private sector, academe, civil society and government and non-government aid organizations.

In a speech during the opening of the Good Governance dialogue, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III called on the national government to focus rehabilitation efforts of quake hit areas from the ground up, rather than from their end.

“We also hope that the national government and local governments adhere to international standards of accessibility and transparency like in other countries where one can see the status of projects being implemented online,” he said.

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