A total of 50 core shelter units worth PHP20.3 million intended for poor and displaced families are nearing completion for occupancy in Barangay Bo-ot in Wao, Lanao del Sur.

Abdullah Cusain, program manager of the Kapayapaan sa Pamayanan (KAPYANAN), said Wednesday the housing project is now 70 percent complete.

KAPYANAN is one of the special programs of Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim which aims to improve the living condition of the poorest of the poor in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“The housing project is intended for internally displaced persons (IDPs) during the 2017 siege in Marawi City who sought refuge in Barangay Bo-ot after their houses were destroyed,” Cusain, who is also BARMM’s assistant senior minister, said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency here.

He said they target to turn over the houses to qualified recipients before the end of this month.

“I visited the project area on Tuesday and work has been ongoing as scheduled,” he added. “Complete with solar power and water components, each unit costs PHP406, 254.”

Cusain said the shelters are part of the 1,000 housing units planned for Lanao del Sur under the office of BARMM Chief Minister Ahod “Murad” Ebrahim’s budget appropriations in 2019.

For the fiscal year 2020, additional 900 units were appropriated for the province, and another 1,000 units for 2021, he said.

Apart from the housing units, Cusain said the KAPYANAN housing beneficiaries would also be provided with food packs and clean drinking water for the next two to three months.

Last month, KAPYANAN also conducted similar food and drinking water distribution for the beneficiaries of another 50 core shelters in Barangay Dimapatoy in Bubong, Lanao del Sur.

Assalan Ampatua, one of the beneficiaries of the new set of core shelters in Marawi, has expressed gratitude to the BARMM government for its concern for the poor.

“I am extremely happy and excited about our new house. Thank you for the support, BARMM government,” he said in the vernacular over during a mobile phone interview. (PNA)