DPWH to enlarge temporary shelters for typhoon survivors

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will adjust the sizes of temporary shelters or bunkhouses for the survivors of typhoon Haiyan in line with international standards, a senior official said today.

According to DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, some international observers noted that each unit of the bunkhouses being constructed in typhoon-hit areas should have wider space than the designed 8. 64 square meters.

While the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), one of the agencies which requested for the building of temporary shelters, has the option to allow families with more than four members to use two adjacent rooms, Singson said it was easy to dismantle the partition between two units so that each family can occupy a wider area of 17.28 square meters.

"It will take some time to identify the sites for permanent housing and eventually the building of permanent housing structures for these dislocated families. The construction of temporary shelters will provide them with more decent living quarters rather than in tents or evacuation centers exposing them to natural elements," Singson said.

He ordered the DPWH personnel on the ground to closely monitor contractors' compliance to the approved plans and specifications of the bunkhouses before these companies are paid.

About 87 contractors, coming from different parts of the Philippines, volunteered to undertake construction of bunkhouses in 42 sites in Central Philippine area of Eastern Visayas, he added.

Over 500,000 houses were totally damaged by Haiyan that struck the country last November.