For nth time, completion of Mandaluyong flood-control project assured

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will be testing the pumping station that was set up as part of the much-delayed drainage project at Maysilo Circle in Mandaluyong City.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the civil works for the P609-million flood-control project were already finished and the agency would be testing the pumps to check for electronic glitches.

In an interview, Villar said he was confident that the project, which was started in 2013 and whose timetable had been repeatedly altered during the Aquino administration, would finally meet the Sept. 30 deadline set under the Duterte administration.

The installation of the pumping station is considered the last phase of the project.

Earlier, officials of LR Tiqui Builders Inc., the project contractor, promised to finish the job by the end of September.

Maysilo Circle, which is near the Mandaluyong City Hall, has become notorious for the foul-smelling floods caused by the unfinished project.

As the waters didn’t subside even on sunny days, the stench caused many business establishments to close down as customers and pedestrians avoided the area. Julie M. Aurelio