AHEAD of the La Niña season, the Cebu City Government held a pilot test of a mechanized dredging and desilting technology at Estero de Parian on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
Cebu City has eight rivers that include the already polluted Estero de Parian.
The pilot demonstration aims to test if the mechanized equipment can effectively remove garbage and sludge from contaminated waterways within the metro.
Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, who attended the event, said the problem of flooding is every people’s concern.
“Kahibaw man jud ta nga inig bawos ining El Niño, muabot na pud an La Niña. The problem of flooding will continue. This problem is every year. Mawala lang ni kung El Niño. Pero kung La Niña, naa jud ni. This is more than half of the year. So please, magtinabangay jud ta, all departments, all agencies -- this is everybody’s concern,” Garcia said.
However, due to a 30-minute delay, Garcia left the venue a few minutes before the demonstration started. The pilot demonstration started around 12:30 p.m.
Randy Cuandot of “Gubat sa Baha” said the process of dredging and desilting refers to the removal of fine sand, rocks, mud, and other sediments and debris from the river in order to clear out its channel and allow it to flow properly during strong rains.
This will also allow collectors to separate sediments from garbage instead of segregating them manually.
In the case of Estero de Parian, it will take around 15 to 30 days in order to make the river 1.5 meters deeper than it is after the removal of silt and other sediments.
An organic solution curated by the OMS Waste Technology Inc. will then be used to eliminate the foul odor and murky sludge from the river.
The company assured that the chemical is purely organic and is not hazardous to the environment and to the community.
Meanwhile, North District City Councilor Jerry Guardo said this is just among the short-term solutions that the government of Cebu City is working on, as they seek long-term solutions to the flooding problem of various communities.
“This has been a frustration by the City Government on how to declog and address our river flooding. We have been doing some clean-up drive, mitigation measures to clean the rivers, but we really need to find long-term solutions. If this becomes successful, then we will apply this to major rivers in the city,” Guardo said.
Guardo added that the test was a success and that the equipment is fully functional.
He said a second test will be conducted using the full set of the machine, which will include an excavator and a bridging conveyor, by the first week of August. (Jerry Yubal, VSU intern)