‘Yes to drainage, but don’t cancel flyovers’

WHILE drainage projects should be prioritized, they should not be done at the expense of flyover projects, the chairman of the Cebu City Council’s infrastructure committee said yesterday.

“Let’s not delete the two flyover projects from the list of priority projects. Let’s just realign the funding,” Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias said.

Earlier Emmanuel Rabacal, head of the Regional Development Council’s (RDC) Infrastructure Development Council (IDC), and Mayor Michael Rama pushed for the deletion of two new flyovers projects in Cebu City’s north district.

Rama said he would ask Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson to exclude them for funding in the 2013 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Flyovers may solve the city’s traffic condition, but when it floods, a lot of lives would be lost,” Cabarrubias said.

Cabarrubias said he doesn’t know whether there was any consultation done by the DPWH regional office about the projects since the city government was unaware about the list of priority projects.

Cabarrubias said the city’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) in coordination with the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC) are trying to finish dredging the city’s creeks before the year ends.

“Our main priority is drainage specifically on drainage concreting. The city’s canals are heavily silted, which leads to overflowing and flooding,” Cabarrubias said.

He said among the creeks in Cebu City, Mahiga is the most critical since all canals from Mandaue and Cebu City flow there.

Cabarrubias said there’s also a major desilting in La Guerta.

“There’s a simultaneous dredging in T. Padilla creek and Bulacao river which will be charged to the calamity fund,” the councilor said.