DPWH: Damaged bunkhouses not permanent shelters

MANILA, Philippines - Bunkhouses damaged or destroyed by Typhoon Ruby were made of light materials and meant only as temporary shelters, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said yesterday.

“The bunkhouses were not meant to withstand the strong winds. These only serve as temporary shelter. We only used coco lumber as walls. The walls were not designed for strong winds,” DPWH Undersecretary for Regional Operations Romeo Momo said.

The bunkhouses, completed early this year, were temporarily occupied by survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan), which devastated Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013.

Officials were criticized for the “substandard” quality of the bunkhouses after strong winds brought about by Ruby destroyed many of the structures.

Momo could not give yet the exact number of bunkhouses damaged or destroyed as DPWH personnel “are still going around the areas to assess the situation.”

The DPWH constructed more than 200 temporary resettlements in 42 different sites in Eastern Visayas.

The bunkhouse project became controversial after presidential assistant for rehabilitation and recovery Panfilo Lacson said the shelters were overpriced and of low quality. Lacson later clarified there was no overpricing.

Each unit measures 17.28 square meters, or slightly twice bigger than the original design of 8.64 square meters.

The DPWH had said it would not pay contractors who used substandard materials.

Permanent

Meanwhile, party-list groups Ako Bicol and Bayan Muna are proposing that the government build disaster-proof permanent evacuation centers instead of using schools to temporarily shelter evacuees.

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe said the onslaught of typhoon Ruby reminds the government again of the need to house evacuees in permanent evacuation and relocation sites.

He said in communities where residents temporarily sought refuge in schools because of typhoon Ruby, students and teachers would not be able to go back to their classrooms until evacuees return to their homes and the schools are cleaned and in some cases repaired.

“Schools must not be used as evacuation centers because the children’s education is the most affected, especially in situations when things should have started to get normal but families cannot yet vacate the school premises because their houses have not yet been repaired nor constructed,” he said.

“This practice of using schools as evacuation centers has to stop to cushion the impact of calamities and disasters especially on children,” he added.

“Schools have always been used as evacuation centers. The problem is that schools are not made to accommodate families in distress because these are not usually equipped with enough facilities such as comfort rooms, kitchens, or sleeping areas to lessen the discomfort of families having to leave their homes to save their lives,” he stressed.

Batocabe pointed out that it is also more costly on the part of taxpayers if the government continues using schools as evacuation centers.

He cited the case of Albay, where he said the provincial government spent P23 million to build makeshift classrooms when it forced residents around the restive Mayon volcano to leave their homes.

Such amount could have been used to construct permanent evacuation sites, he said.

For their part, Bayan Muna Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate proposed that permanent relocation centers be built in every town.

“It would be best to have at least one climate resilient evacuation center in every municipality if possible to shelter the population and to avoid what happened during Yolanda in Tacloban City, where evacuees died in the schools,” they said.

“As it is, schools are not designed as a safe evacuation center and cannot provide for the sanitation and health needs of thousands of evacuees. This is why many get sick and even die of diseases in evacuation centers, especially children,” they said.

“Use of schools as evacuation centers also disrupts studies of students after the calamity. So it is imperative for government to build safe evacuation centers, at least one in each municipality,” they added.

They have filed a bill for this purpose and are urging the House to prioritize it.

“It will at least minimize casualties from disasters, mishaps and calamities. Hopefully, it will help save lives,” they stressed. – With Jess Diaz