AFTER the tragedies of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, is the Capital Region (NCR) better prepared this year for the rainy season? Perhaps a review of the measures adopted this year by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) would be timely.
On May 9, the MMDA started the massive dredging of waterways and drainages in Metro Manila and ensured that its pumping stations are well-maintained and primed up ahead of the rainy season. Chairman Oscar Inocentes said the cleanup and dredging were done most of the summer. At least 35,000 cubic meters (cu.m.) of garbage had then been removed from creeks, canals and rivers, especially in Sampaloc district in Manila, Maricaban creek, Tripa de Gallina estero and the Libertad retarding pond in Manila.
By the 29th of May, the agency installed 20 internet protocol closed circuit television cameras in its main pumping stations that will provide real-time monitoring within the critical areas in the metropolis. The project forms part of the agency’s flood-control monitoring system with telemetry and remote management platform designed to monitor the 25 pumping stations at various sites in one command center and augment and improve the security conditions at critical areas of operations of MMDA’s flood control offices to prevent unauthorized personnel from gaining access to restricted areas.
The MMDA on June 7 said it was planning an immediate procurement of 10 rubber boats which will be used for rescue operations in cases of massive flooding. Inocentes said there was a need to beef up the agency’s equipment.
Fifteen days later, Inocentes called on the executives of local government units to cooperate with the MMDA and support its projects and programs to minimize flood problems. He immediately made the appeal after pocket flooding was experienced on some areas in Parañaque and Quezon City as a result of heavy downpours over the weekend.
On June 26, the agency said it will will prioritize easing traffic congestion and flood control projects with the onset of the typhoon season. Flood control projects will be made more effective and the MMDA will involve the public in crafting new programs.
The MMDA by July 19 was set to institutionalize its Inclement Weather Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan to provide emergency services during times of crises in the NCR. Oplan Unos was conceived as a response to MMDA’s mandate provided for in Republic Act No. 7924 to be the core of disaster management in NCR and to formulate disaster-preparedness mechanisms. It defines the participation of MMDA units in dangerous situations to mitigate the effects of typhoons, heavy rains and flooding through information dissemination, warning, and advisories.
On July 23, the MMDA said its floodwater pumping stations all over Metro Manila have been overwhelmed by accumulated garbage, which came from different creeks and other waterways. “There is a danger that it will clog some important machinery, causing malfunction,” the MMDA said, admitting to a two-week backlog in the hauling of garbage from the 19 major pumping stations, where some 1,674 cu. m. of garbage have been left uncollected.
The private sector wants to get involved in solving the problem. The recent proposal of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for a $961-million flood control project that president Ramon Ang said would also improve the overall economic productivity of the NCR surely merits discussion.
Under a build-operate-transfer proposal, SMC will put up three facilities to counter flooding in Metro Manila: the Laguna lakeshore dike ($502 million), a dam in Marikina River ($85 million), and a spillway in Parañaque City ($374 million). Ang said SMC would not earn anything from the flood control scheme. The conglomerate would instead recover its investment through the Laguna Lake reclamation project in Taguig City as well as an attached tollway concession.
The government has so far not reacted to this proposal. The lessons of last year’s typhoon tragedies demand swift and decisive action. (AJPress)
( www.asianjournal.com )
( Published August 20, 2010 in Asian Journal New York p. 6 )
