CAGAYAN de Oro City officials are asking the public for understanding and patience as the construction of the long-overdue drainage system along Limketkai Avenue is now underway.
City Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., said the implementing agency Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Limketkai group finally met halfway and agreed to start the project that has been stalled since last year.
City Engineer's office head Rolando Pacuribot said the project started a week ago, and that once finished, the drainage constructed in the area would now connect the drainage system in Valenzuela road.
The project is aimed to stop flooding at Limketkai Center as its drainage system will divert rainwater from upstream to a new subterranean drainage.
The subterranean drainage Valenzuela Road in Agora will be connected to CM Recto Avenue, then to the Limketkai area.
Pacuribot said this drainage will serve as a catchment for rainwater instead of overflowing the Bitan-ag Creek, resulting to flooding of the Limketkai vicinity.
"Instead nga ang tanang tubig gikan sa Bitan-ag creek, sa barangay Camaman-an muadto sa Limketkai, ang uban sa Kolambog creek na aron dili na mag overflow sa Limketkai (Water from Bitan-ag creek, barangay Camaman-an will not all be poured out to Limketkai, instead some of its volume will go to Kolambog creek, so rainwater will not overflow in Limketkai)," he said.
In the past, the whole shopping complex including a university in CM Recto Avenue suffered waist to neck-level flood with the absence of the flood-mitigation project.
Councilor Lao meanwhile said he hopes the project will finally solve the urban flooding problem in the area.
"Hopefully, the January 15, 2017 incident dili na mausab when even there was only little rain, we still experienced heavy flooding," he said.