Talisay set to execute drainage masterplan

CEBU, Philippines - After all the delays, the Talisay City Hall is now set to implement its drainage masterplan.

City Councilor Rodi Cabigas, chairman on council committee on Infrastructure, said the project will kick of "within the first quarter of this year," and will start at the flood-prone barangays Bulacao and Cansojong.

The office of the City Planning and Development Coordinator has already identified Bulacao and Cansojong as the most affected during heavy rains because of the lack of a functioning drainage system in the area.

Other flood-prone areas also identified by the office are Poblacion, Lagtang, Pooc, among others, but with the lack of funding, Cabigas said the city government will have to do it by phases.

The city has allocated P10 million for this first phase.

The project needs at least P100 million to be fully implemented.

However, Cabigas said after the Cansojong creek shall have been rehabilitated, neighboring villages such as Poblacion, Tangke, and San Roque will benefit from it, as this will become the outfall for all rainwater in the area.

 Covered canals that connect to the creek will have to be constructed in the highways of these barangays, he said.

As of now, residents in these villages have to put up with the ankle-deep rainwater that gets stuck in the highways and in some sitios due to the absence of properly built canals.

In Poblacion, for one, flood is still one of its biggest problems to date.

Barangay officials have temporarily solved it by distributing foot paths in almost all areas of the village.

But according to a resident in sitio Tangkong, Poblacion, these foot paths are useless during heavy rains when water reaches knee-deep.

The idea to put up an integrated drainage masterplan came up in the early 2007.

Talisay hired SPACESytems.4719, a drainage consultancy firm, to make a five-month study of its drainage system.

And it was only two weeks ago that the firm had forwarded to the city the results of its study, said Cabigas.

Earlier, opposition Councilor Romeo Villarante had threatened to sue Spaces.4719 for the delay of the submission of its report which had also stalled the implementation of the project.

But Cabigas said that with the results with them now, the residents can expect to see the project implemented albeit gradually.

"This problem on drainage can not be resolved overnight. But hopefully, slowly, now that we are starting it, masulbad ra gyud ni nato," Cabigas said. (FREEMAN)