MANILA, Mar 25 (PNA) -–Japan on Tuesday provided the Philippines P3 billion worth of fresh aid to enhance the country’s coastal communications system and assist in the ongoing rehabilitation of areas devastated by last year’s super typhoon “Yolanda”.
Part of the assistance amounting to ¥ 1.1 billion or P 510 million will fund the improvement of water supply in Metro Cebu in the Visayas region to provide efficient and reliable potable water for the country’s second largest city.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Japanese ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe signed the agreement on the three grant aid projects in the amount of ¥ 6.9 billion or about P 3 billion in local currency.
Of this amount, ¥ 1.1 billion or P 507 million will be used to improve the communications systems of the Philippine Coast Guard and enhance its search-and-rescue and counter-terrorism capabilities.
For the rehabilitation and recovery of Central Visayas – the region badly damaged by Yolanda – ¥ 4.6 billion or P 2 billion has been allocated by Japan for the construction of disaster resilient schools, health facilities and government offices as well as provision of equipment for power distribution, airport facilities and meteorological radar.
It will be implemented by various government agencies such as the departments of public works and highways, of transportation and communication, of labor and employment, of agriculture, and of science and technology.
More than 7,000 people were killed and hundreds more are still unaccounted for after “Yolanda” pummeled the Central Philippines and wiped out entire towns and villages with tsunami-like sea surges.
The United Nations said it would take several years before affected communities could fully recover from “Yolanda’s” devastating impact. (PNA)