RDC tells DPWH to do Metro Cebu drainage plan

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Development Council (RDC) is asking the public works department to come up with a drainage masterplan for Metro Cebu towns and cities.

This echoed the earlier call of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board headed by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to collate the drainage plans of the seven cities and six towns comprising Metro Cebu.

Officials of DPWH had earlier insisted that they do not have the capability to undertake such a project, so the RDC, in a meeting yesterday, passed a resolution asking the DPWH to ask for funding so a private contractor could do the job.

Majority of the towns and cities in Metro Cebu do not have a local drainage plan.

Fortunato Sanchez, Jr. chairman of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) sub-committee on infrastructure revealed that the cities of Carcar and Danao and the towns of San Fernando, Minglanilla, Cordova, Consolacion, Liloan and Compostela do not have a masterplan for their drainage system.

“They don’t have drainage masterplan maybe because they have not experienced heavy flooding. But they should think of the future. Maybe they have not experienced flooding now. But what about ten or twenty years from now?” Sanchez said.

The lack of drainage masterplan of these towns and cities means the proposed metrowide Integrated Drainage Plan could not be attained soon.

Sanchez said Cebu City, Naga City and Talisay City have already submitted their respective masterplan to the board.

Lapu-lapu City has its own masterplan but it has submitted any document to the board.

Mandaue City also has a masterplan but the document remains unavailable as it still has to settle it account with the contractor that prepared it.

“I have seen the entire document, about 500 to 1,000 pages. But they have only submitted seven pages to us. I am willing to mediate between the city and the contractor to settle the matter,” Sanchez said. — (FREEMAN)