EDITORIAL - Missing manholes

There’s no typhoon or storm surge. Yet many parts of Metro Manila were submerged in several inches of floodwaters starting last Sunday, as a low-pressure area triggered heavy rains. Several flights were canceled and classes were suspended on Monday, with flash floods hitting several areas the next day. Heavy rains can be deadly: in Valenzuela, a bridge wall weakened by the downpour collapsed on several houses, killing a man and a young boy. Flooding continued in several areas yesterday.

After the cataclysmic flooding unleashed by typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” in 2009, the nation’s disaster preparedness was supposed to have been improved. The recent floods in Metro Manila indicate that this is not the case. Studying the possible causes of the flooding, the Metro Manila Development Authority said private contractors covered hundreds of manholes and drains with asphalt.

MMDA officials counted 661 such manholes and drains mostly along major thoroughfares including Roxas Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue. The Department of Public Works and Highways is looking into the report, but noted that the number seemed high. The DPWH was in charge of the upgrade of several major thoroughfares over two months ago, as the government prepared to host the 45th annual meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Development Bank in the first week of May. Roxas Boulevard and several other roads received a fresh overlay of asphalt.

The overlay, incidentally, is again disintegrating in the rain; potholes are starting to show up along Roxas Boulevard. Are asphalt pavements in this country good only for sunny weather? Repairing damaged roads does not come cheap. Finding and rehabilitating manholes and drains that have been carelessly covered with asphalt will be just as costly.

If the MMDA’s story is accurate, it is correct in calling for the imposition of sanctions on the contractors responsible for the sloppy work. DPWH personnel in charge of the road upgrading project should also be made to account for the work of the contractors. President Aquino often declares that a new team is in charge in this country. He can bolster this by showing that it can no longer be business as usual in the implementation of public works projects.