‘Urban flooding’ must be seriously tackled

CITY Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr. wants the committee on public utilities as a whole to discuss and provide solutions to the urban flooding problem of Cagayan de Oro.

Lao, the chairman of the committee on public utilities, said although climate change is one of the major reasons why flooding in the city is inevitable, he also believes that the effects can be minimized if Cagayan de Oro has a well-planned drainage system.

He said an upgraded drainage system in the city is the only way to prevent urban flooding.

“If you observe, even the uptown areas in our city is still flooded, it is because of the obvious poor drainage system,” he said.

Lao said he already proposed the same solution during the 15th and 17th City Councils, but to no avail.

“I made a special report calling the city government to come up with their Master drainage plan so that the new applications of subdivisions, townhouses, relocations and economic growth areas shall be guided in advance as to where they could construct a drainage system that will be lead and distributed to some major drainage canals in the city. Thus, to avoid other volume of water particularly in the elevated areas, but to no avail it was referred to the committee of nowhere,” he added.

Lao said the committee as a whole, in their discussion, should not only invite engineers but also include native residents in the city, whom he said are more expert on the terrains and creeks of Cagayan de Oro.

City Administrator Teddy Sabuga-a also agrees with Lao saying that government projects have affected the natural flow of water in creeks and in the mountains.

Sabuga-a has called on the Office of the Building Official to carefully plan the urbanization of Cagayan de Oro especially the establishment of subdivisions and buildings, that these will not affect the natural flow of water.

The City Council has yet to schedule the committee as a whole meeting but Lao said it will be anytime this month.

“We hope this time, during the 18th City Council, we can finally help address the problem and deliver results,” he said.

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