Thursday, November 08, 2007 Tomas raps ‘lazy’ City Hall engineers
CALLING Cebu City Engineering Department personnel “lazy,” Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday flared up and scolded engineer Nigel Paul Villarete because the programs of works and estimates (POWEs) of a series of mini-dams are not yet ready.
The mini-dams will serve as water catchments in upland barangays to minimize flooding in low-lying areas.
“I want the POWE. Tell me, who is not doing his job?” the mayor asked the city planning and development officer, who said that the City engineer is preparing the documents.
Osmeña said it has been five years since the mini-dams were conceptualized, yet the POWEs are not yet ready.
He told Villarete to “concentrate on it.”
Villarete said city engineers told him that they still have to do on-site inspections, especially in Barangay Lahug where the mayor said one mini-dam should be built first.
Osmeña conceptualized the mini-dams because although they do not eliminate flooding, they reduce the volume of rainwater rushing downtown from the mountain areas.
“I put you in charge of that. They (city engineers) really have to go there (Lahug)…. They’re too lazy to do it? Give them a deadline to do a site inspection,” Osmeña told Villarete.
The mayor was answering questions from the media on the reported mild La Niña the country is experiencing when the mini-dams’ construction was asked about.
He responded by summoning Villarete to his office, and in front of the media raised his voice to the planning officer.
Taking out a topographic map identifying where the mini-dams should be built, he asked Villarete to see one of three dams for construction in Lahug that should be prioritized.
He also identified mini-dams in Barangays Guadalupe and Apas as the next structures to build, to help low-lying areas like Barangay Mabolo and the Pardo area from being inundated in floodwaters.
The mayor said he will outsource the project to hasten the construction instead of relying on the City Engineering Department.
Asked about the project’s budget source, which he earlier said will be taken from the City’s calamity fund, Osmeña likewise lambasted the City Accounting Office for being “so slow” on its job that it has not yet closed the City’s 2006 books of accounts.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pag-asa) recently warned the public against more rain in the next few days because of La Niña.
Senior Weather Specialist Oscar Tabada said they noted an increase in the average rainfall since October and that flashfloods and landslides are likely to occur.
A landslide happened last Oct. 29 and blocked a road and toppled electrical posts in Barangay Pamutan, plunging into darkness the counting of ballots cast in the elections.
Yesterday, the City Council declared the barangay under a state of calamity so calamity funds can be tapped to hasten the clearing operations. (RHM)
