Doha: A Qatar Red Crescent Society delegation visited the Philippines to inaugurate a housing project, as part of a development programme of Qatar Alliance for the Relief of the Peoples of Somalia and the Philippines, at a cost of $2,256,209 (QR8,211,020).
QRCS was represented by Rashid bin Saad Al Mohannadi, Director, Social Development Department.
The one-year project involved building 650 housing units, seven classrooms, and a depot in northern Tacloban. Soon after the project was completed, work on another 625-unit project was initiated.
In a ceremony with Philippine Red Cross Society (PRCS), the units were handed over to families.
The homes are built of wood and cement, each with separate toilet and sewerage chamber. The families were selected based on case studies from among the families whose homes had been destroyed; people with special needs; families whose breadwinners are children, women, or old people; and chronic patients. The beneficiaries were trained in safe shelter standards and emergency measures.
The classrooms were built at the central school of northern Burauen, a town of Leyte Province, at a cost of $150,000. A ready-made depot was built near the PRCS branch in Leyte.
Local workforce was hired to build them as a way to provide income for the local community.
Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013, was one of the strongest tropical cyclones. It is the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record, killing at least 10,000 people and rendering nearly 66,000 homeless. It affected almost 9,800,000 people in nine regions with 44 provinces and 600 towns. State and community infrastructure was damaged, disrupting basic services and worsening living conditions.
Qatar Alliance was formed as a result of Qatar Day of Solidarity with the Peoples of Somalia and the Philippines, on November 19, 2013 in response to a call by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Apart from QRCS, assigned to implement executive work of the campaign, the alliance involved Qatar Charity, Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF), Sheikh Eid bin Mohammad Al Thani Charitable Association, and Al Asmakh Charity Foundation. The alliance has executed many projects and held events to mobilise financial and other support for the campaign to help alleviate the suffering of as many victims as possible in both countries.The Peninsula
