15,000 houses, 165 classrooms being built in ‘Yolanda’-hit areas

MANILA, Philippines — Close to 15,000 houses and 165 classrooms are currently being constructed in areas ravaged by powerful typhoon “Yolanda”, according to Presidential Assistant for Recovery & Rehabilitation (PARR) Panfilo Lacson.

Lacson said of the more than 200,000 housing units that need to be resettled and/or rebuilt, 182,843 are currently in the pipeline, both by the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the private sponsors.

He said as of Tuesday, there are 14,873 houses under construction while 130 units have been completed by the private donors and turned over to beneficiaries.

On education, out of 18,456 classrooms that need to be repaired and rebuilt, 51 units have been completed while 165 others are still being constructed, also by the private sector, he added.

“The public sector and private companies’ collaboration in the rehabilitation efforts have been very encouraging,” Lacson said in a statement.

On livelihood, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has distributed materials for 12,000 fishing boats.

Private sector groups, on the other hand, have donated 877 fishing vessels.

“The expanded operation that aims to convert six million felled coconut trees into usable lumber has so far yielded 26 million board feet of coco lumber out of 277,039 harvested and processed trees,” he said.

Lacson said the remaining seven million that are located in unreachable terrain will be subjected to “controlled decay” to prevent rhino beetle infestation.

The Philippine Coconut Authority, Department of Agriculture, Department of National Defense/Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Department of Social Welfare and Development will continue to work hand in hand to pursue this effort. –Philippine News Agency