Ebdane promises flood control project done on time

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane assured residents of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela that the Camanava flood control project will be finished as scheduled.

Ebdane made the assurance Friday during the bungled ocular inspection of the P560-million Navotas navigation gate after its machinery malfunctioned.

He discussed with local leaders, led by Malabon City Mayor Canuto Oreta and Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco, ways to hasten the project’s completion.

“We are here to find ways for its speedy completion, so certainly the project would be finished as scheduled in September next year,” Ebdane told The STAR.

The Camanava flood control project, expected to solve flood problem in the northern part of Metro Manila, was originally scheduled for completion on June last year but it was postponed for this year and again the completion date was moved to September next year.

The DPWH chief also allayed fears that the flood control project’s delay is caused by budget shortage. “We have the funding,” he said.

Ebdane, with Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on public works and highways, was in Malabon City for the 10 a.m. scheduled dry run of the navigation gate in Navotas River.

The trial run, however, did not materialize when the 25 meter-wide gate failed to operate when tested by DPWH personnel early in the morning.

Part of the P5-billion Camanava flood control project, the radial navigation gate was designed to control the incoming seawater from Manila Bay and the outgoing water from the river.

It was also intended to accommodate sea vessels going in and out of Navotas shipyards.

Engineer Macariola Bartolo, Camanava flood control project director, blamed four meters of debris that built up at the base of the navigation gate and the high waves, but Revilla said corrosion caused the problem.

Tiangco: Enough talk

Tiangco said yesterday he would rather act than talk his head off to solve the flooding in his city.

“I’d rather do what I can, which is concentrate on what my little resources can bring us to. Ayaw kong maubos ang oras ko debating with the national agencies. It’s not my job. There are better things to do,” said Tiangco.

He said he does not simply rely on promises made by the national government, particularly the DPWH.

“The people have had enough,” said Tiangco, who started building the first pumping station funded by the city government in 2002 under his “Bombastik” program, and has completed 20 pumping stations so far.

On Friday, Tiangco gave the go-ahead for the construction of four more, two each in Barangays Tangos (P24 million) and Tanza (P10 million).

Tiangco gave the order to proceed with the construction after Bartolo failed to make the Navotas pumping station in Tanza, a major component of the Camanava flood control project, work.

Tiangco said he had to postpone the construction of the four pumps to give way to a claim by DPWH officials that he can save money when the DPWH’s Navotas pump starts operating.