TENT VILLAGE BUILT IN ALBAY'S LANDSLIDE-STRICKEN AREAS

By CET DEMATERA

LEGAZPI CITY---The Albay engineering personnel had started yesterday building
the tent village that would serve as emergency shelter of at least 30 families
or 150 people in Albay whose houses were either totally damaged by the land
erosion that hit their place last week or threatened by another landslide
anytime should raining turn heavy again.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said the tent village was set up in the farflung village
of Calaguimit in Oas town where six houses were buried when the place's hilly
portion moved about 20 meters away from its original location, and created up to
20 meter-long and 15-meter high crack.

Salceda said the the four tents that could accommodate six to eight families
were donated by the United Nations International Children Educationa Fund
(Unicef) for the 30 families.

Aside from the houses, an elementary school will also be evacuated as it, too,
is located within the perimeter of the landslide-threatened area.

"We need to makse sure that their lives would not be put to risk should more
landslides occur. We arer lucky that our pre-emptive evacuation saved the
occupants of the six houses gobbvled up when the chunk of the Calaguimit hill
cracked and eroded," Salceda said.

Also Salceda had invited a team of geologists from the Manila Observatory (MO)
to help Albay officials evaluate the condition in the landslide site.

Among those invited were Dr. Arlene Tengonciang, Dr. Glacialle Tiu, Dr. Kelvin
Rodolfo, Dr. Katherine Crittenden, and Mark Lapuz, all geology experts.

Salceda said the team is expected to study the unusual land movement in Oas,
Albay. (cet dematera)