DPWH starts flood control projects for Cebu, Mandaue

The Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas is working on several flood-control projects in the major waterways in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue.

Engr. Luis Paredes, DPWH-7 project manager, said the agency is currently implementing projects that are intended to minimize flooding and develop further the drainage system here in Metro Cebu.The agency also has outlined its future projects for 2018 and 2019.

These projects are mapped out under the Metro Cebu Flood Control and Drainage Improvement Project, one of the efforts pushed by the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board.

The accomplishments in the first six months of the year of the board's projects were presented on Monday during its mid-year update.

In his presentation, Paredes said the first set of the project, sourced from the General Appropriations Act in 2016, prioritized five water channels in Cebu City and two in Mandaue City.

It has started last February 2018 with a budget of over P684 million and set to be completed on May 2021. Paredes said there are already revetment works done in Tipolo River and Subangdaku River in Mandaue City and Kinalumsan River in Cebu City.

He said workers already piled steel sheets and built concrete walls along these rivers to secure the bank. This is also done to prevent structures from encroaching on the river banks.

The same civil works will also be done along Tejero Creek and rivers in Lahug, Guadalupe and Bulacao in Cebu City.

Paredes said the second set of the projects with an allocated fund of P160.8 million from GAA 2017 has started also in February 2018 that is seen to finish a year after.

These projects also include civil works specifically for Subangdaku River in Mandaue, and Lahug River, Guadalupe River, and Bulacao River in Cebu City.Pile driving of steel sheet has already started along Subangdaku and Bulacao, he said.

Aside from the civil works, Paredes said the agency is also acquiring right of way (ROW) along Subangdaku, Lahug, Guadalupe and Kinalumsan. A separate budget of P230 million was allotted for these projects.For 2018, he said DPWH earmarked P600 million for another set of projects here.

He said that P500 million was aligned for the civil works of Tipolo, Tejero, Guadalupe, and Bulacao rivers. It also included a river in Carcar City.The remaining P100 million is set for the right of way along Subangdaku cutoff channel.

Paredes said that in 2019, DPWH is requesting another P600 million for the civil works and acquisition of right of way along Tipolo, Subangdaku, and Kinalumsan rivers.—