Expect more flooding - Enriquez

CEBU, Philippines -The public must be ready for more flooding because the city cannot fix the drainage system soon for lack of budget.

Cebu City’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) head Kenneth Carmelita Enriquez said the P100 million budget is not enough to implement the city’s drainage masterplan.

“The P100 million budget for this year is allocated for desilting and improvements of city and national drainage. The entire drainage masterplan would need P2.4 billion. So, this P100 million is not enough to solve the problem,” said Enriquez in a press conference.

Rama proposed a P500 million budget for his five-year drainage program but the city council only approved P100 million.

 “Nangayo mi og P500 million for a five-year program, but we’re only given P100 million. So, we are addressing the problem kung unsa ray makaya sa P100 million,” she said.

With this situation, Enriquez said the public will have to brace for flood especially during heavy rains like what happened the other day as the city’s drainage system is already considered “aged” having seen no improvements for the last 10 years.

She added that silts and solid wastes clogging the waterways also added to the problem.

In the meantime, since there is no enough funds, what DEPW can do is clear the waterways and make little improvements.

Enriquez said a bigger drainage to catch an increasing volume of rainwater would have been a better solution. But this would mean a bigger budget which they do not have now.

Rama said he should not be blamed if the city still experiences flooding as he is just on his first term.

“Ako na lang gyud. Wa pa gani ko kahuman sa akong duha ka tuig. Kining problema nagtigum tigum kini tungod sa kahadlok sa mga tawo nga way klarong programa kay sige ta’g ba-yad sa SRP niadto,” Rama said. (I’m only on my first term. The problem has been there for years because there is no concrete drainage program.)

Rama, who is set to fly for China for an official business today, said he envisions the city to have a sophisticated draining system like Singapore and Haarlemmermeer. — Liv G. Campo/MBG(FREEMANNEWS)