THE Department of Social Welfare and Development is fast-tracking the construction of bunkhouses to provide temporary shelters soon to the thousands of families in evacuation centers.
The construction of the bunkhouses is being undertaken in partnership with the City Government, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Engineering Brigade and International Organization for Migration (IOM).
DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said in a statement that the construction of 62 bunkhouses, which could house 702 families, is underway.
Soliman said the priority-beneficiaries are those families whose houses were burned down at the height of the standoff.
Thousands of families were displaced when hundreds of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels infiltrated Zamboanga city last September 9.
At present, there are still 9,338 families comprising of 41,863 individuals staying in 22 evacuation centers being handled by the DSWD.
Soliman said the engineering brigade is now constructing 21 bunkhouses inside the Mayor Joaquin F. Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex while an additional 20 others shall be constructed with the IOM.
Soliman said that 20 more bunkhouses will be constructed in the village of Taluksangay, 19 kilometers east of this city, which are intended for 210 families in partnership with the Habitat for Humanity.
She said the priority families to occupy the bunkhouses in Taluksangay are the Badjao evacuees.
She assured the bunkhouses are built in accordance to standards set by the agencies involved in the rehabilitation efforts. (Bong Garcia)