A COMPONENT city and two municipalities in Iloilo were selected as pilot areas in the implementation of a three-year multi-agency disaster risk management project funded by the New Zealand Aid Programme.
Project ReBuild, which started last October 2012, aims to assess the disaster vulnerabilities of cities and municipalities surrounding the Jalaur River Basin in Calinog, Passi City and Dumangas, Iloilo, and Cagayan River Basin in Cagayan Valley.
It was launched through a memorandum signed Monday by Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, New Zealand Ambassador Reuben Levermor, United Nations Development Programme Country Director Toshihiro Tanaka, and Secretary Lucille Sering of the Climate Change Commission.
Governor Defensor expressed his gratefulness to New Zealanders for the $1.22-million financial aid allotted for the project, saying Project ReBuild can boost the province’s existing disaster risk reduction management plans that aim to have zero casualty during natural disasters.
He also asked the continued support and cooperation of the municipal mayors from Calinog, Zarraga, Dumangas, Pototan and Passi City, where Jalaur River traverse, to ensure the project’s success.
Levermore, who led the launching, underscored the mayor's strong will in making their communities climate-resilient.
Levermore also stressed that Ilonggos have to seriously take the lessons in most of natural disasters they have experienced so they could protect themselves against the risks in the future.
Tanaka, for his part, advised the local chief executives to “go beyond the boundaries of politics.”
“The very important things we have to do are to unite our efforts, our system, and our spirit together because climate change affects us all,” he said.
Sering also said the problem on climate change is no joke, adding chief executives have to brace for it since loss of lives, infrastructures and livelihood caused by natural disasters directly affect the local government unit’s economy.
Phase I of the project will focus on resilience capacity building for cities and municipalities to reduce disaster risks from climate change and natural hazards.
It will assess the geological, meteorological and meteorologically induced hazards due to climate change.
The project results will provide the basis for priority mitigation actions like community-based and managed early warning systems and integrated contingency planning and mobilization.
The scheme is expected to end on June 2015. (LCP/With PIO)