Rama told: Raise funds for drainage works first

Where would the Rama administration get the P1.8 billion needed to fund its drainage improvement projects?
That question was posed anew by Councilor Margot Osmeña, chairperson of the City Council budget committee, after she arrived from the US with her husband former congressman Tomas Osmeña.
“The city cannot spend what it does not have. But we are going to listen to their budget request,” the councilor said, adding that funding depends on the city’s capability to raise revenues for such projects.
An ocular inspection was done by the Project ReDZ (Reduce Danger Zones) and the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement Movement (Probe) on the coastal barangays of Mambaling and Duljo-Fatima yesterday.
Project ReDZ head Joey Daluz III and Probe chief Raquel Arce said there are plans to demolish shanties and other illegal structures at the site, specifically houses along the city’s seawall near the Ludo area.
Engr. Kenneth Carmelita Enriquez, head of the Department of Engineering and Public Works, earlier said the city needed P1.8 billion on drainage improvement to solve its flooding problems.
Of that amount, P735.8 million will be spent on drainage improvement next year.
But Osmeña said the council will have to assess the DEPW’s capability to finish existing projects.
“We have to look at the capability (of the office to implement their project proposals) and the source of funding. I do not see any problem with making appropriations as long as there is money,” Osmena told Cebu Daily News.
Daluz said the city owns several properties that it could sell to raise funds for the projects.
The city has lots at the South Road Properties (SRP), owns block 27 at the North Reclamation Area (NRA) and a property located near the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug which cost P675 million and P60 million respectively.
Enriquez said during presentation on Tuesday that only 15 to 20 percent of the existing drainage system of city roads is in “good condition” while the remaining 80 percent is either moderately to heavily silted.
But Osmeña said there are other priorities facing the city.
“I don’t think it’s reasonable to object on what is good for the city but we also have to look at what we are capable of,” she said.
The councilor said it would be best for the executive department to first dispose the real properties that they wanted to sell to earn revenues before they talk of projects.
She said the council only approved a P52.5 million appropriation for drainage projects this year after DEPW admitted during the council’s 2013 budget hearing that they haven’t implemented the P100 million drainage projects last year.
Part of the appropriation is intended for channel improvement in a portion of the Tejero Creek located near the Blessed Sacrament Church.
At barangays Mambaling and Duljo-Fatima, Daluz said a coastal cleanup will be scheduled there on August 6.
He said about 100-200 meters of the Ludo area in Duljo-Fatima will be cleared for beautification purposes.
Arce also said they will clear the toilets which connect directly to the sea, days before their scheduled cleanup.
Part of the coastal area is the Badjao Integrated Area Development Project of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi).
Arce said the families used communal toilets in the sea since the toilets used by the families are not functional.
Marge Gravador, Rafi Integrated Development executive director, said they intentionally prohibited use of the toilets in the housing area because its secondary septic facility is still not done.
“We have to wait for the construction of the remaining quad units before we can finish the facility and for them to use the toilets,” Gravador said. With a report from Correspondent Jose Santino Bunachita