Haiyan survivors get new homes

Source(s): United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific
Yesterday's official hand-over ceremony of SM  Cares houses to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda in the Philippines. Included in the photo are Hans Sy, SM Prime Holdings President,  Margareta Wahlstrom, UNISDR head, and Hilario Davide III, Governor of Cebu. (Photo: UNISDR)

Yesterday's official hand-over ceremony of SM Cares houses to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda in the Philippines. Included in the photo are Hans Sy, SM Prime Holdings President, Margareta Wahlstrom, UNISDR head, and Hilario Davide III, Governor of Cebu. (Photo: UNISDR)

BANGKOK, 10 November 2014 - A dream came true for more than 200 families from Bogo city in Cebu yesterday when they received the keys to their new homes, a year after the most powerful typhoon to make landfall in the Philippines destroyed their old houses last November.

The 200 houses officially handed over yesterday are the first of the 1,000 houses that will be delivered by SM Care Village, the foundation of SM Prime, by the end of the year to poor families displaced by Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, especially those living in no-build zones and high-risk areas.

Typhoon Yolanda hit the Visayas region in the Philippines on 8 November, 2013, killing more than 7,000 people and causing USD 10 billion in estimated economic losses. In Tacloban alone, one of the areas hardest hit by the typhoon, 90% of all structures were either destroyed or damaged.

“With so many people still displaced or living in temporary shelters, the private sector is an obvious partner in the recovery process. We are happy for the families who will have tonight, a solid roof over their heads and a safe home, and we hope that many more will soon join them” said Margareta Wahlström, Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), thanking Mr. Hans Sy, President of SM Prime Holding for making the project possible at an official ceremony held in Bogo, Cebu, yesterday.

The 200 houses are disaster resilient and have been designed above the requirements of the existing building codes and mandated standards. Each house is composed of high quality concrete walls and roof slabs, which can withstand the strength of winds accompanying a Category 5 super typhoon without any major material damages.

In addition to these disaster resilience features, the houses also have heat-resistant painted roofing to help lower interior temperature and increase energy efficiency. The windows and doors are made of aluminum frame and PVC to provide a high level of resistance to corrosion, rot, chipping, fading, insect assault, discoloration, and severe conditions.

“Our beneficiaries in Bogo will be spending Christmas here in their new homes for the first time. And we are hopeful that we are giving them not just houses but we are giving them villages where they can rebuild their lives,” stressed Mr. Hans Sy.

The families receiving homes were carefully selected through house-to-house interviews and priority was given to families who had their homes totally damaged, no capability to rebuild decent homes and who were living in government-identified danger zones. Families with pregnant women, children, senior citizens and persons living with disabilities were also prioritized.

To ensure the village’s sustainability for its residents, SM Foundation also teamed up with Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) to provide families with quality rehabilitation, livelihood assistance and recovery services through social programs and services.

“The project would not have been possible without the collaboration of our partners and the public who put their trust in SM and have given to the project. We would like to thank them and we will continue working together to build safer and more resilient communities for Filipinos,” said Mr. Sy.

So far only 150 households have been relocated to permanent shelters, as part of the government housing programme. Survivors are complaining about the rebuilding process which is according to them far too slow.

Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez said rehabilitation of disaster areas continued to be slow because of the lack of suitable land for the new houses but the authorities are hoping that 14,500 homes can be completed by 2017.

Ms. Wahlström confirmed that “Land tenure is a major hurdle for the resettlement programme and this is adding to the frustration of the many people who want a new home now. Too many people have already rebuilt in danger zones using unsafe materials.”

After her visit to Cebu, the UNISDR chief is attending today the third Top Leaders Forum in Manila and promoting private public partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration as the best way to ensure long term resilience against disasters. The Top Leaders Forum will be followed by the First Philippine Insurance Forum on strengthening disaster resilience in the Philippines, a key sector to incentivize businesses to invest more in resilience.

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