‘70,000 Yolanda survivors to get new homes in 2015’

MANILA, Philippines - About 70,000 survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda from different provinces in the Eastern Visayas will finally have new homes next year, the Philippine Red Cross said over the weekend.

Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon said they are sending galvanized iron (GI) sheets and construction materials for the houses of Yolanda victims in Leyte, Cebu and Ormoc.

Gordon said each province would receive P38.2 million worth of GI sheets for the affected families.

He said the Red Cross’ recovery program for Yolanda survivors is in full gear.

Earlier, the Red Cross shipped 65,000 sheets of GI and other construction materials to Iloilo for the 5,277 affected families in the towns of Ajuy, Balasan and Lemery.

 “These were on top of the 7,000 houses built by the Red Cross in Samar, Leyte, Cebu, and other places in the Eastern Visayas,” Gordon said.           

He said the Red Cross purchased GI sheets that conform to international standards and had it painted red so donors could identify the Red Cross houses.

Gwendolyn Pang, PRC secretary general, said the GI sheets for Leyte, Ormoc, and Cebu were procured in partnership with the American, Australian, Netherlands, Swiss, and Japanese Red Cross societies.

Pang said the Red Cross purchased 300,000 GI sheets for its shelter program in the Eastern Visayas. Of the shipment 67,495 GI sheets will be delivered to Tacloban and Ormoc, while 10,308 will be brought to Cebu.