TACLOBAN CITY-United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Kyung-Wha Kang made an assurance that their presence will continue to be felt in all Yolanda-hit areas for as long as there are humanitarian groups who are helping victims in the recovery and rehabilitation phase. “We will continue to monitor and coordinate all relief and rehabilitation efforts for victims of typhoon,” said Kang during her visit last May 24 this city. Kang was on her second visit to Tacloban as she first visited the city, considered to be the ground zero of Yolanda, last December, 2013 with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Kang noticed that despite of the massive tragedy that they have suffered due to Yolanda, the survivors are doing their best to return to normal life. The UN humanitarian deputy chief’s visit to Tacloban and nearby town of Palo was to assess the humanitarian response and the transition to recovery of the survivors six months after supertyphoon Yolanda devastated these areas. Among sites she visited in Tacloban were Barangay 88 at San Jose District where she met residents of the village and nearby barangays who are beneficiaries of skills trainings from the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and Barangay 52 at Magallanes where she checked the shelter solutions and talked with people chosen to be relocated in safer areas. Kang was joined with Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez during her visit to these areas. In Palo, Leyte, the UNOCHA head visited a bunkhouse located at the Government Center, Brgy. Baras and engaged in a dialogue with local officials headed by Vice Governor Carlo Loreto, Palo Councilor Jonathan Chiquillo. She also asked the typhoon victims living at the bunkhouse regarding their living conditions. The UN OCHA chief was informed that acquiring lots remains to be the problem of local government units why there is a delay in the construction of permanent shelters for the displaced families who totally lost their houses due to Yolanda. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
