Villar to meet with mayors on flooding woes
PUBLIC works and highways Secretary Mark Villar will meet with Metro Cebu mayors and Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III to discuss ways to resolve the flooding in their respective areas today.
Michael Dino, presidential assistant for the Visayas, arranged the meeting between Villar and the mayors at the Cebu Country Club.
“Dino and Villar met in Manila to finalize the meeting with the local officials,” Dino’s chief of staff Jonji Gonzales said.
The meeting came as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7) urged local governments in Cebu to set up their own water catchment facility to curb flooding in their areas.
DENR Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo said water catchment facilities should be set up at the upstream areas to catch the large volume of water flowing down to low-lying areas.
“We need to see it generally where these large volume of water (upstream) came from aside from making flood control plan in the low-lying areas,” Montejo said during yesterday’s 888 News Forum at Marco Polo Plaza.
Gonzales said today’s meeting between Villar and the mayors was organized in partnership with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).
Aside from flooding and drainage, Gonzales said Villar will also discuss with the mayors their problems in water supply and traffic management.
Last week’s flooding left hundreds of Cebuanos stranded on the streets.
The flooding was blamed on the clogging of drainage systems caused by uncollected garbage.
For his part Montejo said a water catchment facility can store floodwater for use during a water shortage.
The water catchment has been part of the watershed management plan but it has not been fully implemented.
So far, no water catchment facility is available in Cebu, Montejo said.
He also suggested that households can help set up small water impounding structures at the upstream portion to control flood water.
While high rise dams were considered for the Mananga river and other waterways, Montejo said they have to consider other factors like the relocation site of affected residents both in Barangays Taup and Bonbon.
“If they want to pursue this high rise dam, then there should be relocation for the affected families,” he said.
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