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MANDAUE CITY, Philippines - With less than a third of its budget for a drainage master plan left, Mandaue City?s unfinished blueprint to solve flooding has cost taxpayers P8 million so far.
Mayor Jonas Cortes said he was looking into the city?s unfinished plan, which was discontinued by private consultants.
Cortes said he was studying his legal options, including an offer by a member of the original team to complete the study.
A technical working group (TWG) formed to look into unfinished projects of the city government found out that the main office of the consulting firm in Manila, Schema Konsult Inc., did not know of the project.
Cortes said it seems that the local office of the firm worked on the drainage master plan without their main office knowing about it.
The drainage master plan project was started in 2002 at a cost of P11 million.
The project, which was started during the term of mayor Thadeo Ouano aimed to identify low-lying areas in Mandaue that get flooded when it rains.
Cortes said the TWG is studying legal options on what to do next.
The mayor said only P3 million remained of the original P11-million budget for the preparation of a drainage master plan.
About P8 million was already released to the contractor.
Cortes said engineer Pedro Adonis Compendio, one of the experts who started the drainage master plan, offered to finish the project.
Cortes, however, said he needs to study Compendio's offer because there is an existing agreement between the city government and Schema Konsult.
In the meantime, the Mandaue City engineer?s office will focus on de-clogging and cleaning up the drainage network, the mayor told a news conference on Monday.
Cortes said a new P14-million suction truck, which arrived last March, is being deployed in various barangays. This equipment will be used to de-clog the canals around the city.
During heavy rains, many parts of Mandaue get submerged in water, some up to knee-deep.
The flood-prone areas include the national highway near the Subangdaku river, parts of AS Fortuna Street, Highway-Tipolo area, Barangay (village) Tawason, Basak, and Cabancalan.
The city government is also looking for relocation sites for dwellers residing in shanties on creeks, canals and riverbanks, including the Butuanon River. /Reporter Dale G. Israel
