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Fernando: Blame informal settlers for floods, not us

By Ben Gines Jr.

07/20/2008

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando yesterday said informal settlers or squatters living near waterways are the major culprits that aggravate floodings due to their lack of discipline when it comes to garbage disposal.

“Floodings still occur though not as bad compared to the past due to the continued stay of informal settlers near waterways, particularly along the San Juan River,” he said, adding dredging operations and removal of shanties and other obstacles along the river’s shoreline are continuing.

The MMDA chief said inspection conducted after last Wednesday’s floods showed that gutters and drainage systems in the affected areas were clogged with garbage and other debris that residents throw haphazardly.

Because of this problem, the MMDA chief said the government should pursue the relocation of some 75,000 squatter families living near waterways outside of Metro Manila in cooperation with the National Housing Authority.

Reports made by the MMDA said from 2002 to 2005, with a 40 mm/hr of rainfall volume, about two to three kilometers of roads were not passable but in the succeeding years, these areas were made passable to motor vehicles.

For the same period, more or less 20 kilometers of roads were rendered inaccessible with 60 mm/hr of rainfall intensity, compared to a kilometer of impassable road in 2005 and 2006 with the same volume of rainfall.

With a 100 mm/hr of rainfall in 2003 and 2004, some 30 to 40 kilometers of road were impassable which were reduced to only 6 to 8 kilometers of inaccessible roads in 2005 and 2007.

The MMDA chief said this would only get better in the coming days as they expect the completion of the Abucay pumping station which would help lessen floodings in Manila, particularly the low-lying areas in Sampaloc like España Boulevard and Dapitan Street.

Also, the agency is awaiting the completion of similar projects in the Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) area being undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Once completed, the infrastructures (pumping stations, floodgates and dikes), which form part of the P5 billion Camanava Flood Control and Mega-Dike Project, will be turned over to the MMDA.

Aside from these physical improvements, Fernando said the agency has also been conducting a year-round clean-up of waterways, canals and gutters as part of its anti-flood control efforts.