Stepped up clearing of clogged waterways is underway in the third district of Negros Occidental as an immediate solution to the flooding in the area, former Rep. Alfredo Benitez, provincial consultant on economic affairs, said today, January 15.
Benitez said the provincial government has sent an amphibious excavator to augment the work of a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) dredger in Victorias City.
The DPWH is also sending another amphibious excavator to the third district, he added.
The provincial government also has an amphibious excavator in Talisay City where dredging is also underway.
The floods that hit northern Negros Occidental late last week affected 168,833 residents, destroyed 118 houses, and damaged 1,251, the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division reported today.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Benitez, mayors of the third district and officials of the DPWH, Office of Civil Defense, Department of Science and Technology and Department of Environment and Natural Resources met today to discuss short term and long term plans to mitigate flooding in the third district.
DPWH experts will draw up a drainage master plan for the area, Benitez said.
The immediate solution will be dredging operations to widen and deepen waterways to enable water to exit into the sea, Benitez said.
The main cause of the flooding has been traced to narrow and silted waterways, which have also been clogged with debris, he added.
They also discussed reforestation measures at the meeting, he said.
A bigger Negros Occidental provincial government amphibious excavator arrived in Victorias City Thursday to augment the work of a DPWH dredger at the Carugiat Creek, City Administrator Dino Acuña said.
Acuña said the clogged creek caused the flooding that hit residents of Sitio Sool and Green Village late last week.*