FORTUNA
THE Mandaue City government expressed worry over the Cebu City government’s plan to construct a drainage system as a remedy to control the floods in Barangays Banilad and Talamban in Cebu City, and Cabancalan and Mandaue side of Barangay Banilad.
Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said the best solution to this problem is to rehabilitate the Cabancalan wetland and restore its purpose, which is to catch run-off water.
“That (flooding problems) should have been avoided if we restore the natural function of that land from the upper tenements of Cebu and Mandaue cities,” Fortuna told reporters, emphasizing that the wetland was declared through an ordinance a long time ago because of its supposed natural function which is to serve as a catch basin for waters.
The four barangays already experienced flooding and this has been a long-standing problem there, said Fe Walag of the Water Resource Center of Cebu City during a previous interview.
Fortuna said the clogging of the Cabancalan wetland leading to slow absorption of floodwaters has contributed to the problem.
As a resolve, the Water Resource Center proposed to link the drainage system of the four barangays to that of M.L. Quezon Avenue in Barangay Maguikay, Mandaue City, and channel the waters to Butuanon River.
Fortuna expressed worry over this decision, maintaining that the drainage system in M.L. Quezon Avenue is designed to catch the run-off water in the area. He doubted if the drainage system could handle the huge volume of water coming from the four barangays.
“That’s something that we really need to look into because the size of the culverts of M.L. Quezon might not be able to receive the huge volume of water from Banilad and Talamban. This might lead to the back flowing of waters,” Fortuna said.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Program of Works and Estimates (POWE) are currently finalizing the specifics of the drainage system for the project to be started.