Rebuilding Marawi: Four-lane highways, underground cables, promenade along river
The government will flatten all buildings in the most affected areas in Marawi City to give way to the construction of new infrastructures such as two to four lane highways, underground electric cables and a promenade along the Agus River which will become a prime tourist attraction.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque Jr. laid down this plan during the conduct of the first “Bangon Marawi” press briefing in Marawi City.
Roque also disclosed that President Duterte is set to visit Marawi again in the middle of December to lead in the distribution of 500 units of houses built by government for the evacuees.
Roque said the government, through Bangon Marawi chair Eduardo Del Rosario, is currently in the process of conducting post conflict assessment to determine how much will it take to rebuild Marawi by January 2018. He expects the estimate or the final figure to be finished by March 2018.
In terms of rebuilding Marawi, Roque said they have already identified about 200 to 250 hectares of land previously described as “ground zero” but will now be known as the most affected area which is home to 24 barangays.
“The plan is we will flatten all buildings in most affected areas and we will build new infra from two lane highways to four-lane highways. We will have underground electric cables instead of the usual posts and we will make a promenade in the Agus River which will become a prime tourist attraction,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government will build a total of 6,300 temporary housing units in an area about 3.5 kilometers away from the most affected area.
On top of that, Roque also said some 2,700 permanent housing will also be built for those families who did not have homes prior to the siege.
The government, he added, will provide the cost of the housing components for those who have land but whose houses were destroyed as a result of the conflict.
During the meeting, Roque said there were very important points raised pertaining to the rebuilding plan. One of the points was the commitment of Bangon Marawi to hold consultations and consider the religious beliefs and convictions of the residents.
“The government also committed that in the process of rebuilding Marawi, there will be regular and constant consultations with the stakeholders,” he stressed.