From uncertainty of safety in a danger zone in barangay Riverside, 70 families find safer homes two kilometers away where Tzu Chi Foundation-Bohol established a resettlement site for them.
Joven Uy of Tzu Chi Foundation said they will formally turn over the houses to the recipients in a simple ceremony on Monday morning at the site in barangay Cambitoon, Inabanga.
Tzu Chi Foundation constructed 50 two-bedroom houses, and 20 three-bedroom houses at a two-hectare property provided by the provincial government through Gov. Edgar Chatto and Vice-Gov. Conching Lim.
The local government of Inabanga provided some materials, while Tzu Chi Foundation takes charge of the construction of the house and site development.
At their new homes, the 70 families will have better access to the highway.
Cambitoon is considered the farthest barangay in Inabanga and the travel from Tagbilaran City could be shorter through the Sagbayan boundary to the town.
It is the first resettlement project of Tzu Chi Foundation in Bohol in response to the need to relocate the families exposed to danger in barangay Riverside after the 2013 earthquake.
While people at the riverside area could just see the highway by plain view, they have to travel around a long road spanning some kilometers to reach there.
After the 2013 earthquake, the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau declared Barangay Riverside as highly vulnerable to landslide, flooding and liquefaction.
This concern prompted Tzu Chi Foundation to construct 70 houses for the households that need to be relocated.
The two-bedroom units with an area of 25 square meters can accommodate a family of up to five members. The three-bedroom units with an area of 27 square meters can accommodate larger families.
Based on the survey conducted by Tzu Chi Foundation, 50 families need the two-bedroom units, while 20 need three-bedroom units.
The beneficiaries built the houses themselves as part of the post-earthquake rehabilitation program of the administration of Mayor Roygie Jumamoy with the support of the provincial government and Tzu Chi Foundation.
Tzu Chi Foundation commenced the project with the capsule-laying ceremony on June 13 last year.