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600 Saipan families line up for assistance
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Posted on Sep 04 2004
About 600 families have registered for typhoon relief goods assistance on Saipan as of yesterday.
Saipan Typhoon Relief Center operation managers Fermin Meriang and Linda Torres said that over 200 families have received assistance.
Other applications are pending verification and assessment.
“We accept the applications here and we send out inspection teams to verify their claims. It’s usually done in one day. If they file today, we ask them to come back the next day and get their voucher for their relief goods,” said Meriang.
The center is located at the conference room of the Kiyu-Joeten Public Library in Susupe.
Meriang said the center follows a criteria in determining what kind of relief goods to distribute to families based on individual assessments.
The relief center opened last week to provide affected families with relief items such as tents, tarps, cots, blankets, camp kits, stoves, cook sets, water containers, wash kits, first-aid kits, dinnerwares, and trash cans.
These items are distributed at the old immigration building at the airport.
“After getting a slip from us, they proceed to the distribution center to claim their items,” said Meriang.
He said most claimants lined up during the first three days after the center opened.
“Today, the number has lessened possibly because most affected families have come,” he said.
Chaba displaced some 1,000 people in the CNMI, mostly on Saipan (over 800).
Meantime, the relief center entertains applications from 8am to 8pm from Mondays through Saturdays. Applicants are advised to bring with them official identification cards.
Hundreds of evacuees were sheltered in different schools and other government buildings following the onslaught of typhoon Chaba two weeks ago.
Chaba victims who need relief assistance or information may call the EOC’s helpline at 322-8621, 322-8626 or 322-9982/3.
