President Francisco Flores said yesterday that with aid from Taiwan, a memorial park is to be constructed in Las Colinas honoring victims of last month's devastating earthquake.
Las Colinas, which lies 12km west of the capital, was particularly devastated by the Jan. 13 quake which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale. The quake killed 827 people, injured 4,520 and destroyed or damaged 224,193 homes, causing losses totaling US$1 billion, according to government figures.
In Las Colinas, a southern suburb of the city of Santa Tecla, it set off a landslide that buried whole neighborhoods and hun-dreds of people. In Las Colinas alone, 373 people died and 520 more are still listed as missing.
"The government of Taiwan assists the possibility of trans-forming this [disaster site] into a memorial park, so that which causes us so much pain today can in time become a place where children play," Flores said, after signing an agreement with Taiwan's ambassador, Bing Yen (
Under the agreement, Taiwan will provide US$2.6 million to build the park and give 250 Las Colinas property owners who lost their homes US$8,571 each.
The park, to be built by the private Technical Foundation for the Environment, will be tree-filled, a place where people can remember their loved ones, Flores said.
"No one can repair what you have suffered, but we should think about the fact that those of us who are present and living have to start a new life ... we should feel deeply grateful to the government of Taiwan for permitting the people of Los Colinas to start this new life," Flores said.
The Taiwan funds will also cover four months rent at temporary quarters for residents of nearby housing developments where the government is still completing safety inspections of damaged areas.
Flores called on residents of the northern part of Los Colinas to return home, saying the area was now safe.
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