P.5B earmarked for flood prevention next year

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has earmarked P500 million in the 2012 annual budget for the city’s various flood prevention projects.

Rama made the announcement yesterday few days before the dead line of the submission of the proposed annual budget to the City Council for deliberations and approval.

The city will hire the services of “frogmen” or scuba divers to inspect the status of the sea entrance channels of the different creeks. Rama believes that heavy siltation may have prevented the flow of floodwater into the sea.

Rama tasked Councilor Roberto “Bob” Cabarrubias to help facilitate the hiring of scuba divers and to supervise their operations.

The knee to waist-deep floods experienced in the city during heavy downpour is already enough for the city officials to be concerned about, Rama said.

In fact, the heavy rains last Friday has stranded commuters because of floods.

The Mahiga Creek overflowed causing floods in the low-lying areas of Mabolo, particularly at the vicinity of the SM City Mall in the North Reclamation Area.

Rama has encouraged engineering experts from various schools in the city to give suggestions how to effectively solve the drainage problem. Rama said he want to have a consultative meeting with them.

Rama somehow blamed the members of the city council for the floodings in the city because of their refusal to approve the P200 million in the Supplemental Budget No. 2 that would have been used for drainage projects.

The lack of budget forced the city’s dredging operations in various creeks to stop.

Rama said he want a much bigger budget next year to improve the health-related services, solve the drainage problems and provide other basic services. (FREEMAN)