| Huge
fund, political needed to fix Cebu City’s drainage system
CEBU City -- A Cebu City Hall consultant said
hundreds of millions of pesos and political will among government
officials will be needed in implementing the city’s
comprehensive drainage master plan.
Pedro Compendio said the drainage master plan
is designed to drain the water to the sea through its rivers
and other waterways.
But thousands of residents, both poor and
rich, keep houses either over the rivers or so close to the
banks that they violate the three-meter easement requirement.
“This needs not only money but political
will,” Compendio said.
One major intervention recommended by the
consultants behind the drainage plan is to stop or slow down
the flow of water from the mountains, which is why they suggested
the construction of impounding dams.
“There are six rivers where the water
is supposed to drain. But this is very difficult because of
the inhabitants along these rivers,” he said.
The second major intervention recommended
is desilting the rivers.
Before he was hired as a consultant, Compendio
served as project manager of Gen-Son-TCG1-Woodfilds-Spaces
Joint Venture, which City Hall contracted to study the city’s
overall drainage system.
The project was finished and accepted by the
city in 2006, or two years after it entered into a P13.6-million
contract with the group.
Compendio said the whole master plan was estimated
in 2007 to cost the city P1.2 billion.
The immediate and short-term plan requires
at least P552 million, yet only P9.5 million has been allocated
for the construction of dams, including one each in Barangays
Lahug and Apas.
A report by Kenneth Enriquez of the Department
of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) irked the mayor, who
said he could not fund a project if there was no program of
works and estimates (POWE) prepared by the engineering department.
The mayor also said he has been asking the
DEPW to give him the POWE for months.
City Planning and Development Coordinator
Paul Villarete told the City Council his office is not involved
in the crafting of the drainage master plan. (PNA)
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