The rains!

Joe Pallugna

MONDAY’S strong rains in Cagayan de Oro City, which presumably covered most of the country as well, have rainwaters swelling in all the streets causing traffic to slow down once again.

But traffic is not the subject of this column today. It is the drainage system.

We cannot just point our fingers again to the present administration of mayor Oscar Moreno as he has been in office only for a little over three years. The previous administration had 15 years, and we all know that there had been no comprehensive drainage plan in almost 20 years.

That is why the rainwaters cannot be effectively collected and drained out into the sea because, as everybody knows already for so long, we don’t have an effective drainage system. We have invested instead on disaster preparedness to evacuate people as soon as floodwaters rise or when there is a storm signal issued by Pagasa.

It is like preparing to bid out instant noodles and mineral water supply instead of bidding out drainage models and plans and then select which are effective drainage systems and bidding them out for actual construction. Although admittedly this is easier said than done, it is still possible to be done. Although we are already short in time, there is still time.

The sudden downpour for about three hours was more than enough to remind us that we really need a drainage system soon. And how can it be done?

The local government can create an inter-agency committee to cause the conduct of a scientific study on the present state of our drainage system. There must be a full budget and a specific deadline. This study can then be undertaken by the private sector which will be awarded after a competitive bidding. The awardee must deliver the study report in a year’s time.

Then there will be a further study on how to improve what we presently have, how much cost will it take to construct the new system, and how long will it take to fully construct them in stages that will be manageable both in funding and in infrastructure support.

Then funding should be fully set up so that loans and grants can be facilitated. There should be no partial funding as these constructions would just become new white elephants and unfinished, and another waste of money.

There is no reason at all to brag that our city is becoming a metropolis, or a Metro City, if even our drainage system is lacking, not just wanting. There is no basis to believe that we have a national economic development dream for Cagayan de Oro if there is no plan on how to develop a fully effective drainage system.

The rains would always come. And flooding would always result.

Without a sincere and directed effort on this drainage problem would just cause more damage to present structures, cause a more serious effect of floods and would endanger future structures as there is no civil works plan to support the economic growth. And when the rains cause deaths and damages, we have no one else to blame except ourselves.

E-mail: ajpallugna@gmail.com