Rehab master plan to save province millions

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Governor Lilia Pineda said on Wednesday that a unified master plan of development and rehabilitation works to address the flooding in various towns will save the Provincial Government millions from yearly palliative works done in places hit by flooding.

Pineda met with various municipal engineers of the second district on Tuesday to come up with the said master plan, which will center on impact projects that will serve as long-term to solution to mitigate if not reduce flooding problems here and the subsequent damage to properties here.

Each of the municipal engineers of Lubao, Sasmuan, Sta. Rita, Floridablanca and Guagua presented recent damages to various river channels, canals, irrigation systems and private properties during the recent flooding brought about by the monsoon rains.

Sta. Rita town had the most number of damages to both agricultural crops and infrastructure. The town’s earth dikes along Sapang Balen have been heavily damaged, resulting in wide flooding and damage to property along the main nucleus of the town.

Reports from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Statistics said that Sta. Rita sustained some P3,695,250 in rice crop damages. This translates to 246.35 metric tons of supposed harvest under floodwater.

Pineda said she will be hosting a conference for engineers in coordination with regional and provincial officials for the presentation of plans that would best address flooding problems here.

Pineda said these would be streamlined into a provincial master plan that includes the construction and rehabilitation of flood intervention structures.

“We need to take steps to ensure that local situations and conditions are taken into account when coming up with our engineering works,” Pineda told engineers, adding the engineers should not stop until a streamlined master plan is achieved.