Marawi’s full recovery eyed in 2021

THE Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) said it has finalized the Marawi comprehensive rehabilitation and recovery program which targets the city’s full recovery by 2021.

TFBM field officer Assistant Secretary Felix Castro Jr. said the plan is awaiting approval by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Under the plan, rehabilitation of the “most affected area” (MAA) will need P17 billion to P20 billion, Castro said. The total rehabilitation cost is estimated at P50 billion to P55 billion.

Castro said that by June, they will start debris clearing at the MAA to pave the way for “horizontal preparations.”

“’Yung mga kalsada na kailangan luwagan aalamin na natin at paplanuhin selected lang naman hindi lahat luluwagan, ‘yung sewage drainage aayusin ang ating telecom wires, cables, tubig lalagay na underground,” he said.

“Ang ating estimated time 12 to 18 months, pag naayos ‘yun papayagan na ang ating mga residente na makapunta at makapatayo ng kanilang bahay (sa ground zero),” he added.

Castro said the presence of unexploded ordnances has hindered debris clearing operations at the MAA.

According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), over 4,000 unexploded ordnances have been recovered since they started the clearing operations in November.

Over 28 explosives have yet to be recovered.

The rehabilitation plan includes the closure of all evacuation centers by the end of 2018.

About a thousand families who are still staying in evacuation centers would be asked to move to temporary housing units, Castro said.

He said these families were from the MAA.

Over 3,000 families from 72 of the 92 barangays of Marawi have transferred to temporary houses built in the outskirts of the MAA.

Castro assured the displaced residents of Marawi are getting assistance from the government.

He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health are in charge of making sure that there is food to eat and the population remains healthy, while there are other agencies including the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) which focus on their livelihood.

“Kung titignan mo ang Marawi, unti-unti nang bumabalik ‘yung normal, marami nang tao marami nang nag-titinda nagkakatraffic na din konti. Tuloytuloy na pag-normalize ng kabuhayan nila (Life in Marawi is slowling returning to normal. A lot of people have returned. There is a bit of traffic already),” said Castro.

“Ang mga Maranaos naman very resilient yan marami na rin silang pinagdaanan so madali nalang silang maka cope up but of course alam natin na mahihirapan sila... in the meantime tinutugunan na natin ang mga pangangailangan nila,” he added.

Castro, however, admitted that there are issues that they are still working on for the betterment the condition of the affected people most especially the lack of water supply.

He said the government has deployed eight water tanks to distribute water although he said this is still not enough.

Castro said they were still trying to find other water sources. (SunStar Philippines)