Crown Prince donates SR1 billion to support housing for eligible families    Saudi, Iranian foreign ministers discuss Oman-mediated talks with US    Prince Sultan University launches first bachelor's program in language and media    Al-Falih: Eastern Province hosts 700 investment opportunities worth SR330 billion    India demolishes houses of 10 alleged militants days after deadly Kashmir attack    Yemen's Houthis claim dozens killed in US strike on prison holding African migrants    Putin announces three-day Russian ceasefire in Ukraine from 8 May    Suspect charged after Vancouver car ramming leaves 11 dead    Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks Outkast but not Oasis    Makkah police arrest Yemeni and Egyptian suspects of fake Hajj campaign    stc reports strong first-quarter 2025 results with 11% rise in net profit    Saudi Awwal Bank records SR2.1 billion net profit after zakat and income tax for 1Q25    Virgin Atlantic celebrates one month of nonstop service between London and Riyadh    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Typhoon ruined traditional, high-tech livelihoods
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 27 - 11 - 2013

TANAUAN, Philippines — As Typhoon Haiyan tore across the eastern Philippines, coconut plantations older than the fathers of the men who tend them were smashed like matchsticks and call centers that field customer service gripes from around the world fell silent. The storm that killed thousands also wrecked livelihoods in the worst hit region, a blow that will ripple long after the disaster fades from attention.
The workload of call and data centers that are soaked in water and choked with debris has easily been diverted to other Philippine cities. Less simple is the choice faced by thousands of workers: uproot and separate from family or stay in Leyte province and wait perhaps a year for the jobs to return.
Tenant coconut farmers know they must clear flattened trees and replant. It will be three years before the new trees are mature enough to bear fruit.
In Tanauan, 20 kilometers from the coastal city of Tacloban inundated by a storm surge on Nov. 8, coconut farms are a tangle of snapped, uprooted and twisted trees. Farmers say that even trees still standing will die because of damage to their cores.
“Those trees over there have been producing coconuts even before my father was born” said tenant farmer Mario Duma, gesturing at a 3-hectare plot where just a couple of dozen out of 500 coconut trees survived.
“If we get seedlings, we can plant again next year,” said Duma, shirtless under the harsh midday sun. “We will really go into hard times if the government will not support us.”
The coconut palm is known in the Philippines as the “tree of life” because every part of it has a use. Fronds are used as roofing, husks as floor cleaner or charcoal, white flesh can be eaten or processed into oil, the sap makes wine. Flowering four times a year for a harvest every three months throughout the decades-long life of the trees, coconuts have long allowed millions of people across the country to make a living.
But it's a rugged hardscrabble way of life. A harvest of 2,000 coconuts sells for 7,000 pesos ($160) and tenant farmers must share that with landowners. Many have sought to leave farming behind. Call center and other jobs in the blossoming outsourcing industry offer air conditioned comfort and pay that is higher than average for white collar work in the Philippines. Those opportunities were multiplying in Leyte as more outsourcing companies moved in. Then Haiyan came, leveling towns and dreams.
At a call and data center in Palo, 11 kilometers from Tacloban, chairs, desks and computers are soaked in water and caked with dirt.
The building wasn't hit by Haiyan's storm surge but monstrous winds peeled off iron-sheet roofing from the hangar-like structure as more than 500 people huddled within, leaving only the steel frame skeleton and soaking everything below. No one died on the premises of the company that had optimistically named itself Expert Global Solutions but some employees lost family.
Bosses visiting from Manila ordered hard-drives of some 1,000 damaged computers destroyed to protect confidential data of clients mostly in the US.
Power may be restored to the area in December, a crucial milestone for businesses that hope to rebuild.
“It's impossible to resume operations now because all the computers are damaged, there's no equipment,” said quality supervisor RJ Ripalda.
Some employees have decided to take jobs with the company in Manila but that's not option for some, including Ripalda with two young children.
“Others have the option to relocate, but others will have to find other means to earn to buy milk for their children, rice,” she said.
At billing services company Accudata, five employees were seated around a table waiting for their cellphones to finish charging on a power outlet run from a generator. They had just gotten some rice and other supplies from the provincial relief operations center.
“It will take a year to repair our office,” said Rosalie Alconaba, a supervisor. “I will just pray our office will be repaired soon.”
About 200 out of 1,000 employees of Accudata and affiliate data processing company CoreData have put their names down for relocation to Manila, the Philippine capital.
Those with families are reluctant to leave even though they have no job options in Leyte.
“Even the department stores of Tacloban were looted, malls were ransacked, so there is really nothing,” said one employee. — AP


Clic here to read the story from its source.