Tuesday, November 04, 2008 71 more structures set for demolition By Carlo P. Mallo
THE City Engineer's Office and Drainage Maintenance Unit (DMU) are set to demolish another 71 structures built on top of the controversial canal located along the border of barangays 22 and 23 in the city center.
The 71 structures include the house of former Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) president Amilbangsa Manding, DMU chief Yusop Jimlani said in Monday's Kapehan sa Dabaw at the SM City Davao.
The clearing of the canal is but the beginning of Jimlani's operations to minimize, if not prevent, the perennial flooding in Davao City during heavy downpours.
The demolition of Nograles Park built atop the canal continues.
"We have only demolished 33 meters of the park, which is 133 meters long," Jimlani said, adding that the entire park including all structures therein will be demolished.
Based on the list provided by DMU, most of the structures that are illegally situated on the canal vary from shanties, concrete houses, portions of houses, and the park.
The structures are not only illegally situated on the canal, but they have also been found to be without a building permit.
City Administrator Wendel E. Avisado said the clearing operations of DMU started with the canal as it has been identified to have the lowest grade in all of Davao City's canals.
"Three streets empty into the canal such as Ponce Street, Quezon Boulevard, and Gempesaw Street," Avisado said.
The canal is originally five meters deep but was found to have siltation 1.1 meters thick.
Two more major canals in the city have also been identified for clearing by the DMU.
The canal located in Barangay 37-D up to the Mabini Public Market has 32 illegal structures subject for demolition.
These structures include sari-sari stores, houses, and a hardware store.
The canal connecting Quezon Boulevard corner Mabini Street to the open sea was identified to have 17 illegal structures.
