NGO asks gov't, private sector to send housing repair materials to 'Odette'-hit areas
MANILA, Philippines — A humanitarian and development organization called on the government and the private sector to prioritize the distribution of materials needed by communities to repair and rebuild their homes destroyed by Typhoon Odette (Rai).
‘Odette’ struck the central and southern Philippines in mid-December, unleashing violent winds and torrential rains that left hundreds of thousands homeless.
In a release Tuesday, Oxfam Pilipinas said the distribution of construction materials, on top of food and water, will allow survivors to repair their homes and help decongest evacuation centers.
"Typhoon survivors already spent Christmas in evacuation centers; let’s not keep them there for New Year’s Day too as we are still battling the COVID-19 pandemic," Oxfam Pilipinas country director Lot Felizco said.
According to Oxfam, rooms in some evacuation centers are occupied by three to four families at a time.
"This raises major health risks as it is impossible for them to observe physical distancing," Felizco said.
The Philippines is seeing an increase in new COVID-19 infections amid the holiday season and detecting more cases of the heavily-mutated Omicron variant.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported Tuesday that over 4.2 million people across 11 regions have been affected by the typhoon.
More than 508,000 houses were damaged—164,417 of which were completely destroyed.
The typhoon also left 397 people dead. Eighty-three people remained missing.
Oxfam also raised concern about the safety of women and children, citing the lack of room partitions between families. Some people are also forced to bathe in open areas due to low water supply.
"The lack of water and sanitation facilities make frequent hand washing and proper hygiene habits more challenging for typhoon survivors," Felizco said.
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