EDITORIAL - Long wait for a dike

In the continuing disaster in Bulacan and Pampanga, the flooding in northern Metro Manila has been relegated to the sidelines. CAMANAVA, or the Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela area, becomes flooded even during high tide, so official attention is currently focused on the flooded areas of Central Luzon.

The storm surge at the height of typhoon “Pedring,” which destroyed the seawall along Roxas Boulevard and submerged the road in floodwaters three feet deep, aggravated the already serious flooding in CAMANAVA. The disaster also highlighted the interminable wait for the completion of a megadike that has cost taxpayers nearly P3.5 billion so far.

The CAMANAVA megadike was started in 2003 and was supposed to be finished way back in 2007. Four years later, the project remains unfinished. Where did the P3,479,584,407.13 allocated for the project go? City officials of Navotas, frustrated over the delay in the project, reportedly plan to construct a 3.5-kilometer coastal dike to reduce flooding. How that dike will affect neighboring cities remains to be seen.

Northern Metro Manila has long been susceptible to flooding. But the problem was aggravated when the natural water catchment in Dagat-Dagatan was filled to make way for a low-cost housing program during the Marcos regime. That area is now one of the most densely populated in Metro Manila.

To address the perennial flooding in the area and neighboring cities, the Department of Public Works and Highways embarked on the multibillion-peso megadike project for northern Metro Manila. As of the last major typhoon and storm surge, those billions of pesos looked like a major waste of public funds. The Aquino administration should look into the project and see who might be responsible for the botched project and for bringing misery to the residents of CAMANAVA.