Lack of funds, equipment hampers Cainta cleanup

MANILA, Philippines - Cainta, Rizal Mayor Mon Ilagan admitted yesterday that the lack of financial resources and heavy equipment is hampering the cleanup and rehabilitation of his municipality, one of the hardest hit by tropical storm “Ondoy” last Sept. 26.

Ilagan appealed for patience and perseverance among his constituents in dealing with lots of problems brought by Ondoy such as the piles of garbage, saying, “Your local government is dealing with them.”

“We are doing everything to help our affected residents but we still hear complaints like the local government is not doing its share to solve their problem. What they don’t know is we are working our butts off despite the limited resources and equipment just to bring their lives back to normal,” he said.

The Cainta municipal government is using at least five rented payloaders and 22 garbage trucks to rid the streets of garbage.

“If we have at least 10 more payloaders and 30 dump trucks, we can clean the town streets of garbage until Sunday,” Ilagan said, as he called on the national government for financial assistance and whatever kind of help.

Ilagan asked his constituents for their understanding “as we have so much area to clean up.”

It has been almost two weeks since Ondoy battered the country, but two barangays of Cainta town – San Juan and San Andres – have remained submerged in floodwaters.