One month on after the devastating Typhoon, progress in Leyte

Philippine Star ^ | 12/08/2013

[SeekAndFind]

TACLOBAN CITY , Philippines – The government is back at work, and markets are laden with fruits, pork, fish and bread. Shredded trees are sprouting new leaves. Above all, the sounds of a city getting back on its feet fill the air: the roar of trucks hauling debris, the scrape of shovel along pavement, the ping of hammer on nails.

One month since Typhoon Haiyan, signs of progress in this shattered Philippine city are mixed with reminders of the scale of the disaster and the challenges ahead: Bodies are still being uncovered from beneath the debris. Tens of thousands are living amid the ruins of their former lives, underneath shelters made from scavenged materials and handouts.

City administrator Tecson Lim says a sense of “normality” has returned and has begun talking of a silver lining: “The opportunity to transform our city into a global city, a city that is climate change resilient and that can perhaps be a model.”

Rebuilding will take at least three years, and success will depend on good governance and access to funds. The Philippines is currently posting impressive economic growth, but corruption is endemic and the country remains desperately poor, with millions living in slums.

[logitech]

a city that is climate change resilient and that can perhaps be a model.

Paging Algore

[oldasrocks]

So why is it different in the Philippines and Haiti? Why did the Haitian population sit around and wait for someone to fix everything.

[dfwgator]

Haitians are conditioned, because it’s everyone’s favorite basket case.

They are so reliant on aid, that it doesn’t allow their private infrastructure to develop.

Why become a doctor, when foreign doctors are just going to come in and cut into business?

Likewise, why be a farmer, when food is dumped in, and undercuts prices, so you can’t even make a living farming?