CITY of San Fernando Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago kicked-off 2021 and his last year in office by checking on developments and assessing requirements on the capital city’s priority projects amid the raging coronavirus pandemic.

For starters, on Sunday, January 3, the mayor visited Barangay San Felipe and the southernmost village of Pandaras to check on flooding situations and interventions, farm to market access, irrigation and availability of quality water.

“As we are still in the midst of a pandemic, it is important to check on the situation of our farmers in the areas, particularly irrigation and market access for them as food security is one of ongoing major programs in San Fernando,” Santiago said.

In flood-prone Pandaras, the mayor, together with members of the Sagip Ilog program, inspected the main waterways there and to see what other anti-flood interventions needed by the barangay.

“Our anti-flooding program and projects are year-round and continuous. Just like last year, even when we were still under MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine), we had major drainages traversing MacArthur Highway in barangays Baliti, Sindalan up to Telabastagan cleared when we had the chance to ensure that no major waterways will be clogged and avert flooding,” Santiago told SunStar Pampanga.

“We would not want to compound the pandemic with more disasters and hinder local economic recovery. Most important, we must start early on checking these priority projects in every barangay in the city for the welfare of Fernandinos,” he said. (JTD)