TACLOBAN CITY – The 2nd Leyte Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways have started the rehabilitation of school buildings in the district damaged during the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda.
According to 2nd LED district engineer Carlos Veloso, the district has prioritized the repair of roofs of damaged school buildings identified and assessed by the office.
Three big schools in the district namely Barugo 1 Central School in Barugo; Cassidy Elementary School in Carigara and the Granja Kalinawan National High School in Jaro are to be given priority among the 76 schools identified by his office which sustained damages during the supertyphoon.
Veloso said that with typhoon strength and frequency increasing yearly, the district aims to repair and rebuild classrooms with roofs that can endure maximum sustained winds of at least 300 kilometers per hour.
With an average strength of 314 kilometers per hour, Yolanda was the strongest typhoon to make landfall in the world.
A total of 256 classrooms in Leyte’s second district are being targeted for rehabilitation or reconstruction by the 2nd Leyte Engineering District.
Partially damaged classrooms are being given priority for immediate repair within the 76 schools in various municipalities of Leyte’s second district.
Veloso said ‘clearing operations’ have already been conducted in these areas but reconstruction has yet to formally start pending the availability of construction materials, including good lumber and GI sheets.
The DPWH will utilize available lumber and roofing materials including resources salvaged or still useful for the repair these classrooms.
Meanwhile, reconstruction of classrooms, assessed as fully damaged, will come later with the appropriated budget from the Department of Education (DepEd), it was learned. (AHLETTE C. REYES)
