Rama, officials inspect Quiot, Kalunasan flood areas

FOUR days after being hit by a downpour, displaced residents of sitio Granada in barangay Quiot and sitio Lareja, barangay Kalunasan finally got the attention of City Hall.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he directed the Department of Social Welfare and Services to assess the needs of the seven displaced families in Quiot.

He said they are still finding a relocation site for the affected Kalunasan residents.

One of the Kalunasan residents , 73-year-old Euthemia Paquera, said she has to live with her daughter in a higher portion of sitio Lareja.

Photos taken by her neighbour showed only an empty area where her house once stood after it was wiped out by last Saturday’s floods.

“We never expected the flood to be that strong. It washed out my house. I was only able to save my clothes. It’s very difficult living in somebody else’s house because I really want to stand on my own),” a teary-eyed Paquera said.

A few blocks away, a riprap along the riverbed collapsed, dragging the fence of two houses where four families lived.

“We can barely sleep at night because our house seems to be hanging already. If the riprap on the other side will collapse as well, our house will also be washed out,” said Darling Dapiton.

Elsa Declaro, who also lives by the riverbank, blamed rusting interlink wires used to hold the riprap for the collapse.

Kalunasan Barangay Captain Nunilon Monares Jr. said they will work on the riprap immediately.

He also ordered all residents living within the 3-meter easement zone from the Sapangdaku river to evacuate.

He said there’s no relocation site yet for the affected families.

“If they can live with a relative residing in a safer place, then good. As of now we cannot give them a relocation site yet because we are still securing one from the city government,” he said in Cebuano.

Monares said he’a also asking for additional budget from the city government to fix their drainage systems and clear the two fences that were destroyed by the floods.

One fence is located in Unit 5 fronting Osmeña Shrine while the other is at the back of Oprra Night High School that is seen to endanger at least 15 households.

“Even a slight earthquake will cause it to fall down and it will directly hit the houses,” Monares said.

Rama said he will meet with officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 to have them explain about the unfinished and poorly built bridge in Barangay Sapangdaku which is said to have caused the floodings.

Rama visited the mountain barangay of Sapangdaku yesterday morning to personally assess the concrete bridge that is undergoing repairs.

He said portions of the bridge’s culvert were already destroyed to facilitate the flow of floodwater.

At least two shanties built near the bridge will also have to be removed to secure the lives of its occupants. The P10 million project was supposed to be completed last July.

But the project contractor is having problems with a nearby utility post that’s obstructing the site.

They are still trying to contract the post owner to ask for its relocation away from the project site.

Rama said the bridge project is another example of nationally-funded projects that are implemented without consultation with the local government.