TYPHOON Odette (Rai) destroyed the two-lane Cebu National Road along the coast of Alegria town last December 16, but its residents now have something better to look forward to.
This, after the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Cebu 7th District Engineering Office presented the Alegria Esplanade project which involves a four-lane road, the Alegria Public Information Office (PIO) said on its Facebook page.
Cebu 7th District engineer De Danilo Villa presented a road rehabilitation project incorporating four lanes for vehicles, a bicycle lane as well as a boardwalk during an inter-agency meeting held in Barangay Legaspi in the southwestern Cebu town last January 25, 2022.
The project, which has yet to be approved by the DPWH central office, is targeted to begin this year and takes three to five years to complete, the Alegria PIO said.
However, work on the first leg of the project, an initial two lanes of the 1.398-kilometer Anongan-Alangasil road network in the town’s Barangay Madridejos, could be finished in just two to three months, Villa said.
Alegria has nine barangays, of which at least four lie along the coast.
During the meeting, Villa called on residents living by the shoreline whose houses had been destroyed by the typhoon not to return there, but instead use any financial assistance they may receive to rebuild their homes elsewhere, as their houses in the area may be affected by the project.
The Anongan-Alangasil road project would serve as a pilot or possible template for the road rehabilitation in the over 30 towns in Cebu affected by Typhoon Odette.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has been directed to give P5,000 as financial assistance to low-income families and owners of houses destroyed by Typhoon Odette in the six regions, including Central Visayas, declared under a State of Calamity by President Duterte in Proclamation 1267, series of 2021.
Under Joint Memorandum Circular 4, series of 2021 by the DSWD, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of National Defense, the financial assistance shall be released directly to the local government units (LGU) concerned for the distribution of cash in the amount of P1,000 per affected individual with a maximum amount of P5,000 per family.
Separately, the Cebu Provincial Government is providing aid worth P8,000 contained in Dasig Sugbo cards for rebuilding.
The digital coupons enable typhoon victims in 36 LGUs to procure construction materials from Capitol’s partner- merchants so they can rebuild their damaged or destroyed houses.
Distribution of the cards began last January 19, prioritizing families with destroyed houses.
On that day, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia handed Alegria Mayor Verna Magallon 2,298 of the 2,475 cards intended for the town.