BY: REY ANTHONY H. CHIU
TAGBILARAN CITY, March 7 (PIA)— A group helping Bohol set up emergency shelter for
earthquake victims call government to harmonize the documentary requirements to
get these people into their new emergency houses.
With 418 families still living in tents
and makeshift shelters four months after the earthquake, international humanitarian organizations find it rather tough for
them and the beneficiaries to comply with government requirements to get the
shelter assistance done.
As requirements for shelter assistance,
both the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD) require a Department of Environment and Natural
Resources-Mines and GeoSciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) certification stating
among others, that the area where the new shelter would be built is not prone
to hazards and is confirmed a safe zone.
The subject certification, is among the
documentary requirements for shelter assistance most especially for funds from
the government, as stipulated in the DSWD AS no. 17, series of 2010.
For the government’s Commission on
Audit too, the documentary requirement compliance is among the basis for
inspection, checking and review as well as their audit, sources at COA
said.
But, according to the Camp Closure and
Relocation cluster of the Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management
Council, the DENR-MGB admitted they can not provide the required clearance as
required.
The DENR MGB asserted that the agency’s
tasks is to conduct ground assessments on areas with sinkholes, fissures and
tension cracks and can only give opinions and make recommendations on these
site investigations and its results.
Furthermore, the MGB also adds it can
not possibly cover all requests for province-wide ground assessments due to
limited personnel and experts.
Due to this, Camp Closure and
Relocation team pushes for the immediate harmonization of NHS, DSWD, DENR-MGB
and DOST PhiVOLCS documentary requirement to help the COA and the shelter beneficiaries
get their temporary shelter as soon as possible.
International humanitarian
organizations race against the clock to implement the funds for shelter while
facing possible fund reversion to donors, when left unimplemented as the
organizations pull out of Bohol.
A little over four months after the
earthquake, 418 families or some 1850 individuals continue to live in tents and
makeshift shelters in 19 evacuation camps in at least 6 towns, according to
Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster of the PDRRMC.
The CCCM has moved for the immediate closure of the evacuation
camps so those internally displaced persons can get to transitional shelters
for better and safer living conditions, while awaiting permanent relocation.
(mbcn/RAHC/PIA7-Bohol