The problematic drainage system of Davao City once again reared its ugly head when floods inundated certain areas following heavy rains. Mayor Sara Duterte herself saw the problem when she beheld water overflowing clogged canals and flooding several low-lying.
“There seems to be a problem with the outlet,” she said Tuesday during the bi-weekly business forum at the Medispa, SM City Davao.
Noting the perennial problem, the mayor said she had asked the city engineer’s office (CEO) how much it would cost to solve it. “He knows the solutions, but he said it would entail millions,” she added, referring to Jose Gestuveo, Jr. who heads the CEO.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” she told him. “Just give me the plan and how much so we can come up with rehabilitation or repair.”
Duterte said Gestuveo knows the problem and its solution, “but he still has to put it into writing.” She directed him to do so, saying, “Let’s take one problem at a time. Magprioritize ta og problema.”
What Gestuveo discussed with the mayor were engineering solutions, but she noted also that local property developers and the regional office of the department of public works and highways have been helping the city address the problem of floods.
Not during her term
Despite the modernization of the city’s traffic signalization system on major intersections of the city, the riding public continue to complain about traffic congestion.
In the meantime that the traffic management center (TMC) is tasked with the problem of improving traffic flow in the city, a six-month transport study for the long term was launched at the Waterfront Hotel Davao last Wednesday.
The study is being sponsored by the Asian Development Bank to give the city the option of installing either a bus or rail transit system. Whichever will be proven appropriate after the study, the mayor said such a system could take as long as ten years to accomplish.
“Dili ni para sa akong term, kundi para sa mosunod sa amoa (that won’t happen during my term, but those who will come after us),” she told reporters.
Doubtful
Taking care of the solid waste collection, the city environment and natural resources office (Cenro) headed by Joseph Felizarta has been urging households to segregate their wastes at source. However, Mayor Duterte says she doubts if there is one hundred percent implementation.
“With a population of 1.5 million, I don’t know. Ang orientation nato dili ingon ana,” she said, pointing out that in that case, the city may as well hire a third party to do the segregation. She identified one, Redwood, as the only company ready and capable of doing such work.
“Dili ko gusto mobayad for segregator kay mokita naman sila sa basura. Gusto nila sa landfill mag-operate pero dapat rentahan nila ang facilities sa landfill (I don’t want to pay the segregator because they can make money out of the waste itself. They want to operate right at the landfill, but they have to pay rent on the facilities there) she explained. Both parties are yet to discuss the arrangement.
Duterte said the city government has suggested areas where Cenro can dump the wastes and Redwood to do the segregation. However, some barangays in the vicinity have frowned on the proposal owing to the foul smell of garbage.
The mayor, however, is open to the idea of buying a segregator conveyor which is fabricated in Cebu. She has directed the Cenro to come up with a repair and rehabilitation plan along with the cost for the finance committee of the city council to study.
“At the rate it is going now, murag mashorten siya og five years. We need to start planning because by 2014 kung unsa na pud na waste disposal system kay nagadaghan ang tao, nagadaghan ang negosyo, nagadaghan pud ang basura,” she said.
200 houses target
Another concern for the Duterte administration is the problem of informal settlers, a euphemism for squatters, who tend to gravitate to riverbanks and shorelines. Duterte said she intends to address it this year.
As a first step, the city housing office targets building 200 houses to be given them for free. These will be located in a 22-hectare land area in Los Amigos in the city’s third district which was given by Gawad Kalinga for the purpose of developing into a village.
Families who arel not qualified for relocation will become beneficiaries of the Urban Land Reform Program (ULRP), the mayor said.
The inventory of the beneficiaries of this program is going on, but with only two personnel working on it, the mayor said she will add one more to the staff to speed up the work.
As for families who cannot avail of free houses, Duterte said they still can apply for low-cost housing. She knows an investor who will build houses that will cost from P900,000 to 950,000 each. [Lorie Ann A. Cascaro]
