BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
AJUY, Iloilo – This town was one of the worst-hit in northern Iloilo when super typhoon “Yolanda” struck November last year but it had not received sufficient reconstruction assistance from the national government, according to Mayor Juancho Alvarez.
Alvarez told Reklamo Publiko program on DyOK Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo yesterday he would exhaust the remaining two years of his last term for his municipality’s total recovery from the devastation.
He lamented that eight residents had died in the aftermath of the typhoon that wrecked their public gymnasium, their new municipal hall, market and schools.
A total of 9,988 houses comprising 89 percent of the town’s 11,169 total households were smashed by the typhoon; 4,156 of them were partially damaged and 5,832 totally damaged.
More than six months after “Yolanda,” Alvarez disclosed that as far as the repair of classrooms is concerned, they had not yet received substantial financial aid from the Department of Education (DepEd).
Even the designs of the school buildings to be reconstructed had not yet been finalized.
He revealed that he had to rely on charitable non-government organizations to fund the repair of the some of the wrecked classrooms. He named two – Amity Foundation of Hong Kong and Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran.
Some schools simply exhausted their maintenance and other operating expenses.
Alvarez thanked the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for sinking down a total of P7.9 million for the repair of their gymnasium (P6.5 million), municipal hall (P990, 000), and public markets (P450, 000).
After donating relief goods for the typhoon victims, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) pledged to give P10,000 worth of housing materials for partially damaged houses and P30,000 for totally damaged. These have not materialized yet, however.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), on the other hand, gave away certified palay seeds and corn seeds to typhoon-affected farmers, and 255, 000 bangus fingerlings to fishpond operators.
DAMAGED, EXPIRED RELIEF GOODS
Alvarez confirmed that some of the relief goods they had received were already damaged and expired on arrival. He cited the relief goods in balikbayan boxes sent from various donors abroad.
Alvarez said, “We had to sort out clothing materials and whatever usable goods could still be beneficial.”
AJUY BANKS ON TOURISM, FUTURE PORT
Another thrust of Alvarez is to boost Ajuy’s tourism potential.
Alvarez said that since Ajuy is blessed with white beaches and beautiful islands, it could develop into a tourist spot like Boracay.
In fact, he said, resort operators had banded into an organization that meets every month to devise ways and means to attract tourists through tour packages.
Alvarez also enthused that there had been encouraging increase in the number of tourist arrivals.
He revealed that a resolution had been filed to create a roll on, roll off port and shipyard in Brgy. Bay-ang; it is awaiting approval by the Sangguniang Bayan.
The project will likely cost P5.9 million./PN
