Cebu City Hall allots P70M for dredging
At least P70 million will be set aside by the Cebu city government for dredging and desilting rivers and waterways.
After the Sept. 18 downpour caused widespread street flooding, this was the immediate action city officials agreed to pursue.
They asked Engr. Jose Marie Poblete of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) to identify which rivers and waterways need clearing and their Programs of Works and Estimates (POWE).
This was decided in a meeting last Friday with Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, Cebu City Rivers Management Council (CCRMC) chairman Jose Daluz III and Councilors Gerardo Carillo, Noel Wenceslao and Hanz Abella.
“We came up with dredging (and desilting) as a short-term solution for the heavy floods in the city. We will use P70 million from an approved budget on declogging Mahiga River this year which won’t be fully consumed,” Labella said.
A P100 million budget was appropriated this year for dredging the Mahiga River but Daluz said only P30 million was used.
Report
The City Council has to approve a resolution in order to use the remaining P70 million for dredging.
Councilor Wenceslao said they will tackle this next week yet since there’s no council session tomorrow.
The council declared a state of calamity in Cebu City in order to authorize priority funding for anti-flooding projects.
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