Cebu needs plan to help LGUs bounce back from calamity

CEBU – Cebuanos have to prepare for another calamity and come up with a template on what to do when it comes, a United Nations (UN) official said.

One idea Cebu’s officials can consider is building storm surge shelters like those that have saved thousands of lives in Bangladesh, said Climate Change Commissioner Yeb Sano.

Margareta Wahlstrom, special representative of the UN secretary general for risk reduction, listened to mayors as they briefed her and Gov. Hilario Davide III yesterday on their rehabilitation efforts.

“If you assessed an area as high-risk, you don’t build there,” Wahlstrom said, adding that the type of house and infrastructure should also be considered.

Sano said the commission is ready to assist local government units (LGUs) on the technical aspects of their action plans on disaster preparedness.

After meeting with Wahlstrom, Task Force Paglig-on head Baltazar Tribunalo updated mayors on the required rehabilitation plan and fund sources among national government agencies.

Questions

Mayors, in turn, told them about their problems like lot acquisition and appraisal, among others.

When Yolanda/Haiyan struck the Visayas last Nov. 8, it killed more than 6,200 persons, many of whom died when a storm surge swept across Tacloban. The typhoon also damaged P39 billion worth of infrastruc- ture, crops and agricultural equipment. In Cebu, 15 towns and a city in northern Cebu were badly hit.

In moving from disaster response to disaster rehabilitation and prevention, Wahlstrom asked the mayors if the land they chose as relocation sites is safe.

And in rebuilding the house, she asked them if they came up with better building standards and used better materials.

“If you make all that, it’s the foundation for the future resilience of your com- munity,” she told them.

Wahlstrom also wanted the chief executives to be sure that economic structures are going up, citing the egg and poultry production in Bantayan.

“Having a prepared plan puts you in a better position to get off the ground quickly,” she said.

“Lessons after this disaster would have to be translated into serious changes that can help all of us and we don’t want to waste this opportunity,” said Sano. Before super typhoon Yolanda struck last Nov. 8, Sano conducted a community-based climate change assessment in San Francisco, Camotes and its disaster preparedness. He said their idea is to replicate this in all the towns in Cebu.

Sano was attending the UN climate talks in Poland when Yolanda struck, and he moved delegates by going on a fast “until a meaningful outcome is in sight” and nations act to stop “the madness” of climate change.