Pursue Camanava flood project, Arroyo urged

The Arroyo administration has been urged to pursue and speed up the implementation of the ambitious flood control project that will cover the cities of Caloocan, Valenzuela and Malabon and the town of Navotas, collectively known as the Camanava area, to alleviate the plight of residents in often flooded areas.

In a statement, Sen. Teresa Aquino Oreta said the recent flood woes brought about by monsoon rains should prompt the Arroyo administration to pursue this ambitious dike project as well as other flood control projects if it is serious in resolving the urban woes of Metro Manila.

Oreta noted that the Department of Public Works and Highways (PDWH) had allotted in the 2000 national budget P15.1 million for Caloocan; P7.25 million for Malabon and Navotas; and P6.5 million for Valenzuela for the implementation of this project.

Aside from the Camanava project, other flood control programs that were initiated in the past administration are the North Lake Dike Project along the Coastal Road in Taguig and another covering the Pasig-Marikina River.

Citing studies, Oreta noted that Metro Manila occupies 63,600 hectares of which 10,600 are flood-prone areas. DPWH pumping stations can handle only 7,200 hectares, leaving some 3,400 hectares unprotected from the perennial floods, she added.

Oreta said that aside from easing Metro Manila’s flooding problem, the government should also give top priority to the needs of thousands of families who live in danger areas near flood control projects.

In 1999 alone, about 6,000 families were relocated from danger zones near the Camanava project and the Pasig River, Oreta said.