The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has chosen Bacolod City as the first area outside the National Capital Region (NCR) for its massive dredging of riverways and declogging of drainages program, Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez said on Monday, Oct. 20.
The massive short-term solution to the flooding problem will start in the middle of November, he said.
Benitez said they created an inter-agency task force to be headed by him and Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya to oversee the flood control project.
Among the national agencies that will form part of the task force are the DPWH, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
It will be known as the Greater Bacolod City Waterways Clearing and Cleaning Operations Task Force, he said.
The clearing operations will be funded by the DPWH and the private sector, he said.
Benitez, Gasataya, and other city officials met with a DPWH central office team headed by Undersecretary Charles Calima at the Congressional Office in Bacolod City to discuss the short-term solutions to the floods.
The team was sent to Bacolod by DPWH Secretary Vince Dizon.
A pre-flood control summit attended by multi-sectoral representatives was also convened by Benitez Monday afternoon at L’Fisher Hotel to discuss long-term solutions “to address the problems of floods once and for all”, he said.
They will be updating the city’s flood control master plan, which is targeted for completion in February, to ensure its inclusion for funding in the 2027 national budget, he said.*