Bohol 'still in the dark' weeks after Odette, governor says

Power supply is still a problem in Bohol province following the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in December, Governor Arthur Yap said on Thursday.

According to Yap, the absence of power supply also affects their water supply as this means that water refilling stations can not operate.

"The situation now is we still don't have power, there has been a partial restoration. The distribution utilities are now drawing 4.8 to about 5 megawatts from a power barge in Ubay and that has been able to power towns for just about few hours," Yap told CNN Philippines.

"So 5 megawatts out of a total provincial requirement of 90 megawatts is a faraway so technically we are still in the dark and when you don't have power, you also don't have water because the water refilling stations are not working," he added.

Yap said at least 50 generator sets are needed so the provincial government could make water refilling stations work.

Meanwhile, the local government official said 80,000 food packs have been distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development to the affected families while the provincial government provided 125,000 food packs.

Bohol is among the provinces severely affected by Typhoon Odette when it hit Visayas and Mindanao last December.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the death toll from the typhoon has climbed to 407, with 75 confirmed and 332 up for validation. —KBK, GMA News