Marawi completes key infrastructure projects 6 years after siege
NEW TRACK OVAL | In this July 2022 photo, young Maranaws stage a cultural performance at the newly built track oval in the Sarimanok Stadium in Marawi City. (File photo by RICHEL V. UMEL / Inquirer Mindanao)
ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Philippines — Key infrastructure projects are set to be inaugurated during the Marawi Week of Peace, which commemorates the city’s rise from the ashes of the five-month siege by Islamic State-linked militants in 2017 that devastated its commercial district.
From May 17 to in 23, the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM), which coordinates the rehabilitation of the war-torn capital of Lanao del Sur province, has lined up the inauguration of three school buildings with 20 classrooms each, the Raya Madaya II Barangay Hall Complex, and the Network Operation Center Building and Digital Transformation Center.
Also set for inauguration are the rebuilt Bato Ali mosque, the new Marawi Peace Park, Rizal Park, and the restored Towak a Bata and Towak a Lapot.
The mosque was one of the major scenes of battle between the terrorists and government forces aiming to retake the city from their control starting on May 23, 2017.
The peace park rose out of the old “padian” or public market where the fateful battle in October that year concluded the five-month war.
The Towak a Bata and Towak a Lapot are the historic concrete and wooden stairs connecting the elevated main road to the old padian.
Rehabilitation continues
TFBM field manager Felix Castro Jr. said the completion and commissioning of these facilities signified the continuing rehabilitation of public infrastructure to lay the foundation for the recovery of Marawi from the war.
The completion of more facilities this year adds to the commissioning of big-ticket ones such as a sports complex and Islamic Center, along with the turnover of over 1,000 permanent shelters to identified beneficiaries.
In the coming days, some 500 completed permanent shelters are also slated to be turned over to identified displaced families, Castro said.
Launched in 2013 under the theme “Peace Starts With Us: Give, Work and Share,” the observance of Marawi Week of Peace aims to strengthen social cohesion between and among the various sectors in the city through collaboration in delivering socioeconomic support and promote the spirit of continuous engagement.
Castro said only 25 implementing agencies were still involved in rehabilitation work and the order to them was to finish their projects as soon as possible for inauguration and turnover.
The rehabilitation work, he said, is already in the final stages and once the projects are done, these will be turned over to the local government so people can use them.
Compensation
Displaced residents, especially those staying in transitory shelters, had long clamored to return to their old communities so they could start rebuilding their lives.
Today, through the Marawi Compensation Law, they can seek compensation from the government for the properties lost during the war as well as for kin who died.
Compensation is expected to drive the rebuilding of homes.
TFBM had documented at least 15,000 families displaced from the so-called most affected area of the war.
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