Damaged dike endangers 700 families in Ecija town

GABALDON, Nueva Ecija — The lives of 700 families in two barangays in this town are in danger because of the failure of the national government to rehabilitate a dike damaged by flashfloods in 2004.

Mayor Dominador Mandia told The STAR that unless the Danglan River Control Project (DRCP) in Barangays Poblacion South and Sawmill is repaired, the lives of residents in the two barangays are no longer safe.

"If the repair of the Danglan dike is not carried out, we might see ourselves getting engulfed by massive flashfloods," he warned. Floods spawned by Typhoon Agaton destroyed more than P300 million in Nueva Ecija last month and inundated the two barangays.

He added that 100 families living in the danger zone will be immediately affected if flashfloods occur.

Mandia said the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), through its executive director Glenn Rabonza, committed to release P8 million for the repair of the damaged infrastructure, including the construction, dredging and de-silting of the Asan creek in Barangay Macasandal and the rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads in Bagong Sikat and Barangay Bantog.

Some P2 million had been requested from the national government during the calamities in 2004 but this had not been released, he said. — Manny Galvez