BY: REY ANTHONY H. CHIU
ILAYA. Inabanga Bohol, March 25 (PIA)—Having struck a deal for a patch of land to be their resettlement, Sitio Tuko evacuees now settling in Ilaya wish government could help them put up water facilities there.
Ilaya barangay chairman Guilberto Socorin said the community can draw water from a source in Sitio Tuko, but it is a long walk on dangerous trail down. He proposes a water pump to bring the supply to the camp grounds.
International help groups are helpless, admitting they came in the context or emergency relief efforts and added sustainable water systems development can be put up by governments.
Cogie Vidad of UNICEF said their assistance is more on the water and sanitation but is focused largely on toilet packages for the houses.
The same is true with Save the Children whose water and sanitation assistance delves on communal restrooms and toilets in schools, shared Leah Bugtay, communications officer.
She further narrated of a consortium of groups working with them which includes ACF, OXFAM, MERLIN and another unnamed group into water and sanitation.
Municipal Human Resource Management Officer Frank Baylosis, and Renante Cempron who came for Mayor Josephine Socorro Jumamoy in the forum, revealed of a programmed P4M Salintubig project for Ilaya, but it does not come quick.
Water in this evacuation center is hard to find, admits evacuees who had to boil, treat and purify their water to get off the risk of waterborne diseases.
Here too, the privately-arranged evacuation site is a small piece of land perched on the hill where resident evacuees build temporary shelters of tarpaulins and tents donated by international humanitarian organizations.
On this spot too, will be erected permanent shelters which shelter assisting groups will put up in the next few days.
While government is still in the heat of acquiring lots for relocation, temporary settlers, fear the transfer of international humanitarian organizations could also ruin their chances of owning temporary shelters.
International humanitarian groups who are on emergency response can’t stay long in a place, explains shelter cluster Birgit Vaes, who has long pulled out from Bohol response after a little over three months of help.
Pre-identified shelter beneficiaries here also fear the pull out before groups could be a problem in the completion of the housing assistance.
With this, they individually sought for arrangements with private owners to settle for a lot which shelters could be erected immediately.
As shelter aid organizations like Catholic Relief Services (CRS), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other shelter groups said they would put up core shelters and alternative transitory shelters on site if the land issue is complied, Ilaya evacuees cooked a deal.
And as shelter seemed a settled issue, Braulio Divinagracia, a septuagenarian evacuee thought the provision of clean water is a dire need for the new community.
We did not have water problems in Sitio Tuko, it is quite different in this new site, he shared in Cebuano during the Pulongpulong sa Komunidad last week.
“Water can only be drawn after walking nearly a kilometer in dangerous trail down,” he said.
Going down is not much of a problem, it is going up with the load that’s tricky, admits barangay chairman and camp manager Guilberto Socorin. (mbcn/rahc/PIA7-Bohol)