Saturday, April 21, 2007 Hoses, pumps to be sent to upland barangays; damage still minimal, says agriculturist
IT is an unusually hot summer, but the Cebu City agriculturist said crops are not yet severely damaged as farmers are still able to cope by sourcing water from faraway barangays.
He lauded the City Council for declaring all 34 mountain barangays under a state of calamity so that the City Government can give assistance to minimize the effects.
City Agriculturist Joelito Baclayon said the farmers asked for hoses so they could bring water to their farms.
He quoted an initial 1,000 pieces of 90-meter garden hoses that should be immediately given to the farmers.
Baclayon said, though, that the property damage is still minimal, but he could not cite specific cost estimates yet.
He admitted that the dry spell started as early as January, but the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical, Astronomical, Services Administration (Pag-asa) predicted that the rainy season will come by June yet.
“Short-term crops”
Farmers should plant “short-term crops,” or those that could be harvested in a shorter period of time, like sweet corn. “They still have a source of water but it is farther than their usual source,” Baclayon said.
He said the temperature is really high; the other day, it registered 36 to 38 degrees Celsius.
Also yesterday, City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC) personnel started visiting the mountain barangays, which asked for tax relief so they can cope with the situation.
“They are checking if the plants are indeed dying from the heat,” he said.
That is after the City Council declared the City’s 34 mountain barangays under state of calamity because of El Niño.
Carillo said the City Health Department is also monitoring diarrhea cases because with residents finding it difficult to access water, they might drink non-potable water.
Distribute
City Hall will distribute hoses and water pumps, several of which were already purchased last year when El Niño struck.
And since water tanks were already given to the barangays as early as last year, helping the mountain residents will entail minimal costs.
The tanks are placed in the barangay halls and in schools.
What is needed is to distribute the water pumped to the tanks to the residents and their farms, Carillo said.
And there are at least six City tankers that bring water to the mountain barangays.
Baclayon said mid-barangays, or those sandwiched between urban barangays and the hinterland barangays, are often the ones in dire need of help in terms of water supply.
He identified a few like Barangays Babag, Toong, Sirao, Guba, and Agsungot that have a worse water problem compared with Barangays Tagba-o and Tabunan, which are at the boundary of Cebu City and Balamban town. (RHM)
