Eastern Samar folk need emergency jobs, says governor

TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone said his province needs special projects that would provide emergency employment for his constituents, mostly farmers, who have lost their livelihood to severe flooding affecting several municipalities.

Evardone emphasized this when President Arroyo visited the province last Saturday to personally distribute relief goods to flood-stricken folk and preside over a meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

“These special projects would hopefully provide them with immediate employment that would give them earnings to sustain their daily subsistence,” he said.

Evardone said these special projects could involve the repair of irrigation facilities, farm-to-market roads and school buildings damaged by the floods.

“We have to have massive employment projects to provide the needed jobs, especially for those who have lost their farms. This will mean so much in the rehabilitation efforts that we will be doing after the floods,” he said.

Evardone said damage to agricultural crops has reached nearly P300 million, including P221 million in palay production, P53 million in vegetables and other high-value crops, as well as P3 million in fisheries and P12 million in livestock and poultry.

Among the towns severely affected by the floods were Dolores, Gen. MacArthur, Can-Avid, Oras, Borongan, Jipapad, Maydolong, Llorente, Maslog, Quinapondan, San Julian, San Policarpo, Taft, Arteche, and Balangiga.

Evardone said Dolores town, considered the province’s rice granary, suffered the heaviest damage.