By DHSUD
MARAWI CITY, Oct 18 (PIA) - Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) Chairman and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Eduardo D. Del Rosario said the government is working non-stop to energize and connect Marawi City to a water system, whose works are expected to fully begin within a couple of weeks as part of the overall effort to completely rehabilitate the war-torn city.
Secretary Del Rosario, who was in Marawi City over the weekend to lead the marking of the third year anniversary of the liberation of the city from the clutches of Islamic militants, said rehabilitation works are poised to be undertaken, both to fully restore electricity and bring in water to the city’s Most Affected Area (MAA).
“Everything will be completed within the term of the President,” the TFBM chief said, assuring that all the projects that were crafted and put forward to restore Marawi City, including the much needed electricity and water system in the MAA, are in full swing.
“This is a manifestation that the instruction of the President… for him that he will soon see that Marawi City will rise again, and we commit ourselves, we will comply,” Secretary Del Rosario said.
The TFBM chief said that the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) through its administrator Jesli Lapus had already received its funding for the construction of a pumping station for the water connection project in the MAA, while a funding has also been secured for the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative (LASURECO) for the construction of a power sub-station.
Secretary Del Rosario said the government has already energized “Sector 1, 2, and 3” in the MAA even with the upcoming construction of the power sub-station.
The restoration of power and water connection system in the MAA are part of the 22 projects that have been designed to fully rehabilitate Marawi City before the end of the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Secretary Del Rosario said that 20 of the projects would be completed by end of December 2021 while the two other projects would have been constructed 95 percent, and fully completed by March 2022.
The TFBM chief said that the construction of permanent housing, which is being undertaken through the National Housing Authority (NHA) and through the partnership of the Social Finance Housing Corporation (SHFC) and the UN Habitat, is also expected to be completed by December 2021.
Meanwhile, Secretary Del Rosario expressed his support to the proposed measure that is being moved in Congress for the granting of financial assistance to the victims of the Marawi City war.
“We support this effort,” he said of the bill, which is pending before the House of Representatives. (DHSUD)