THE National Housing Authority will turn over 500 temporary shelters for the war victims in Marawi City on Jan. 30, an official said Sunday.
NHA general manager Marcelino Escalada Jr. said they had built an initial 500 units of the 6,400 temporary shelters for the “internally displaced persons” of Marawi.
“Our mission is to construct 6,400 temporary shelters and 2,700 permanent shelters for Marawi IDPs,” Escalada told reporters.
“These [temporary] shelters located at Barangay Sagongsongan are constructed in 40-square-meter lots with a 22-square-meter floor area. These are single-detached, pre-fabricated units with individual power and water installations.”
Escalada made his statement even as Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said Marawi City must become groiund zero of the country’s Build, Build, Build program.
He said the “bombed out capital of Lanao del Sur” could be the showcase of the government’s promised infrastructure boom.
“From the center of fighting, let Marawi be the center of reconstruction in the country,” Angara said.
By March, the NHA is expected to finish another 1,170 temporary shelters in Sagonsongan village, Escalada said.
With site 1’s 50-percent completion, the NHA was now preparing to start site 2 construction, he said.
“For site 2, we will be hosting another 1,000 IDPs. Once we are 50-percent complete with site 2, my instruction is to proceed with sites 3, 4 and 5, so that we shall be able to complete the 6,400 units.”
Escalada said the Marawi City government, along with the ulama, sultan and beneficiaries, had requested for a much bigger space for site 2.
“We are seriously considering this and we continue to converse with them. Hopefully, after several dialogues, we shall be able to perfectly provide what is best for the people of Marawi,” he said.
As for the permanent shelters, he said, they would start exploring for sites that could accommodate 2,700 units.
“While we are constructing the temporary shelters, I am also trying to explore the possibilities of developing the permanent shelter [sites]. Something that is very secure, something that is stable,” Escalada said.