Cebu City, Mandaue folks address flooding

Without waiting for government aid, some residents of  northern barangays in Cebu and Mandaue cities decided to roll up their sleeves and work out  flooding problems in their communities.

In barangay Talamban, Cebu City, a committee wants to raise P2 million to fund a technical study on the flood situation in their area and barangays Cabancalan and Talamban.

For now, they only have P200, said Fr. Peru Dayag, SVD, chairman of the Banilad, Cabancalan, Talamban Communities Drainage Committee. He said local government officials vowed to fund the drainage project but not the study.

“We have to do this study as soon as possible. We can’t proceed further because we need P2 million,” Dayag told 40 Talamban residents in a meeting held at the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus yesterday morning.

The citizens committee was formed  to find solutions to the flooding in the area. A  project study would take  two to three months.

“Action is now. With our common efforts and cooperation, we can do something to respond effectively to the increasing inconvenience and property damages caused by flooding,” Fr. Dayag said.

He described the flooding in the area as “calamitous occurrences” with floodwaters reaching knee-deep during heavy rains.

Engineer Fe Walag, director of the USC  Water Resources Foundation Inc., said the drainage system needs to be expanded because “the size of our existing drainage lines is insufficient.”

In Mandaue City, 100 volunteers yesterday joined a canal cleanup  in the city’s major thoroughfares  started by the newly formed  Mandaue City Drainage  System and Flood Control Management Committee.

City Administrator James Abadia said most of the drainage systems that were declogged yesterday were opened for the first time since their construction.

Equipment and labor were sent  by the Cebu Contractors Association,  FF Cruz Company, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Mandaue City Engineering Office .

City Hall workers of   the Barangay Clean and Green program and some private organizations also joined the cleanup from  8 a.m. to past 1 p.m.

In barangay Centro alone, more than 50 sacks of  debris were  taken from  manholes and drainage lines.

The cleanup will become a regular Saturday activity in Mandaue City.

Last Oct. 7, a Friday,  8 out of 27 barangays in Mandaue City suffered flooding with water level in barangay Subangdaku reaching 10 feet deep.

The City Council declared a state of calamity in those areas.