ARAYAT, Pampanga — In effort to provide permanent shelters to the landslide victims in this town, the provincial government headed by Governor Lilia G. Pineda assured yesterday the completion of the construction of 170 houses of the affected families.

Pineda said the construction of the landslide victims’ shelters will be completed before the end of this year.

She said nearly half of the 170 houses for the victims of the 2009 landslide in Barangay San Juan Bano have already been built.

The program is part of the provincial government’s Negosyo keng Panyulung Program (NPP), a livelihood loan assistance project which has a P39-million fund as of January.

The governor came to speak with owners of small stores operating in the 1.8-hectare resettlement site during the recent visit here. She was happy to see “that a community is now rising and there is an economic activity.”