‘Metro Cebu Dev’t Authority needed’

The creation of a Metro Cebu Development Authority was proposed to address the perennial problem of urban flooding during yesterday’s Integrated Inter-City Drainage Summit held at the Elizabeth Hotel yesterday.

“We are faced with a problem and our response will define our future. As leaders we have our moral obligation to act. If we act unilaterally we can’t solve the problem. Let us consider ourselves as leaders with equal footing,” Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said.

Cortes was with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Talisay City Mayor Johnny delos Reyes along with their respective department heads and stakeholders to find solutions to the flooding problem.

Fortunato Sanchez Jr., chairman of the sub-committee on infrastructure and utilities of the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board (MCDCB) came out with the proposal.

During the summit Alvin Santillana, Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction officer, said the state weather bureau Pagasa warned that Central Visayas will experience at least 13 typhoons and one cyclone every year.

Dredging

Other challenges faced by Metro Cebu in addressing the urban problem include constricted waterways, encroachment of three-meter river easement, siltation, lack or ineffective drainage infrastructure and lack of coordination among neighboring local governments from the barangays up to the city level.

While the summit was ongoing, the Cebu City Council denied the proposed P70 million budget for dredging in its session yesterday.

“We’re spending millions of pesos for dredging but that will not solve the problem,” Councilor Sisinio Andales said during yesterday’s council session.

When asked if he was upset about the City Council’s rejection of the P70 million budget, Rama said he wasn’t.

“I am just concerned about the people of Cebu. I don’t give a damn with the council. If we don’t act correctly, how can we face God if we did not do anything,” Rama said.

Based on the estimates submitted by City Engineer Jose Marie Poblete the city will need at least one long arm backhoe, 25-ton crane with clamp shell and dump trucks for each of the rivers.