Carreta fire victims to get CH assistance

CEBU, Philippines - At least 200 fire victims in Barangay Carreta have to wait until tomorrow before they could get relief assistance from the Cebu City government because of the holiday.

Department of Social Welfare and Development head Lea Japson said they could not make the distribution today so they have scheduled it on Thursday. They were not also able to do it yesterday because the materials were not yet delivered.

Japson said that the fire victims will get relief goods such as noodles, canned goods and rice. They will also receive construction materials from the city government. Each family will get 10 pieces of galvanized iron and 10 pieces of plywood to start their house reconstruction.

She said they are now in the process of finalizing the list of fire victims. DSWS, however, initially identified 200 individuals who were given food packs immediately after the fire last Monday.

The Division for the Welfare of Urban Poor is also waiting for the survey report to determine whether a re-blocking is needed in the area.

"Wa pa man nakasubmit, pero if maka-submit na atong tan-awn if pwede ba ma-re-block," said DWUP chief Genieve Alcoseba.

She said that a consultation will be conducted among the affected residents if re-blocking will be conducted in the area.

At least 20 houses were burned during last Monday's fire in Barangay Carreta leaving at least P50,000 in property damage. The fire started in the house of Rowena Niez. (FREEMAN)