TACLOBAN CITY, July 11 (PNA)– The city government here has now started working on an iconic memorial park to honor the victims of the strongest typhoon that pummeled the city nearly two years ago.
Wilson Larios, draftsman of the city engineer office (CTO), said the project was a 15-meter wide memorial park. It will take about two months to finally finish the park.
The memorial park is being built at the city’s Anibong district, where a cargo vessel was washed ashore by storm surges.
The front part of the ship will be used as the main attraction for the memorial park.
Ruby Balayanto, a city tourism staff, said the memorial park was expected to draw visitors.
“There will be an increase in tourism arrival and tourism-related investments, hence generating more jobs,” she added.
However, nearby dwellers are not very happy with the development since they will be moved to a relocation site.
However Bactol clarified that since their village is within the danger zone, residents will be relocated, but they will still be allowed to operate their business near the park.
“The city engineering office will prioritize us in the establishment of businesses in the area,” she added.
Since super typhoon Yolanda struck, Anibong district has been visited by tourists who usually took photos of ships that ran aground.
This leads the members of the city council to pass an ordinance converting the site into a memorial park. (PNA)