New shelters 2 years after Yolanda hit Cebu
Two villages with over a hundred disaster-resilient houses were turned over yesterday by foreign and local donors in Daanbantayan town with the French Ambassador and officials of the Philippine Red Cross and Cebu province.
Two years after super typhoon Yolanda ripped through the Philippines, 128 families in barangay Paypay, Daanbantayan, northern Cebu who lost their homes are moving into new, permanent houses.
The 30-square-meter housing units come with a bathroom and latrine including septic tank and a decentralized treatment system for gray water that ensures that effluents released in the environment are harmless.
Electric power is provided through a 33kW photovoltaic power plant that gives households access to electricity at half the usual price.
It was installed through the efforts of the Red Cross and Electricians Without Borders, a French NGO.
“Better and safer housing is key to recovery but it is only by providing proper water sanitation and energy access and making sure that the people have access to sources of livelihood that we support their long term resilience,” said Richard Gordon, PRC chairman.
Rolly Buhat, 31 and his wife Manilyn, 35, who are among the beneficiaries, were filled with gratitude for their new house.
“Mora gani og mauwaw mi nga mopuyo ani kay pang datu man ni nga balay (It’s like we are living a house for the rich),” said Buhat.
The P84 million project was implemented with the support of the French Red Cross in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Philippines and French-Philippines United Action.
This is the largest shelter assistance that the Red Cross has provided in any post-disaster operation globally in terms of number of houses built and amount of shelter assistance provided, said Gordon.
In barangay Agujo, 76 housing units were turned over in the morning.
French Ambassador of the to the Philippines Thierry Mathou, who attended the event, urged French companies to help the northern towns of Cebu after assessing the area was also devastated like in the Leyte areas.
“We have committed early on to help you particularly Daan Bantayan town which we envisioned as the road to Paris,” said Mathou.
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