The big question

Ben Contreras .

WHEN we talk of distance, the shortest distance would always be a straight line. Apply this to flowing water in a tube or drain or a waterway. The easiest way for water to flow is through a straight line.

What the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) intends to do is connect the subterranean drainage system across the highway, turn right to the Limketkai property and somewhere near Luxe Hotel, and then turn left towards McDonald’s. The LKKS management proposed connecting the Bitan-ag Creek down, crossing Puregold and straight to the subterranean drainage system. That is a direct line and easy for water to flow. That would have been the better option. But Puregold would not allow that to happen.

If someone could provide us with a map of the original course of Bitan-ag Creek, perhaps we can have a better understanding why all these things are happening. According to a resident, the original Bitan-ag Creek was straight toward the area of Puregold and crossing the highway straight to the Agora road. When that piece of land where Puregold stands was bought, the route was diverted towards the LKKS property. Today, LKKS is taking the brunt of floodwaters.

Raising the bridge over Bitan-ag Creek did not solve the flooding in the highway. The same is true in the Bulua area towards terminal. The problem seems to have worsened. The gate of RER Subdivision Phase 1 along the highway easily gets flooded, knee-deep, every time it rains hard.

Do DPWH planners and engineers know their job? Or, are there things that prevent some good men inside from doing the right thing?

What’s keeping the contractor from finishing the connection of box culverts down the river? We’re not even sure if this will solve the flooding in the highway.

DPWH has been the subject of sharp on-air criticisms lately. Contractors have been accused of being slow in their job. Is it a case of too many to handle? If the reason is lack of funds, then DPWH should not undertake any work unless the funds are there in full amount. Any delay in the project means unnecessarily subjecting the public to great inconvenience.

Look around, we see diggings here and there, and after that, the job is abandoned or temporarily stopped for unknown reasons.

I still have to hear from the contractor why that portion of a road in Barra, Opol remains unpaved and is now being used for manufacturing concrete pile drives.

Going back to the floods. The LKKS will have its own strategy to prevent floodwaters from its premises. That which is lower than the highway level will be raised a few inches higher than the highway. But that would not be solving the problem. It would merely transfer the problem to another area.

The problem is really so complex that it requires ideas from experts. This brings me back to the then mayor Tinnex Jaraula who said an expert suggested to have mini-dams built layer by layer to cushion the impact of floodwaters coming down the city proper.

Another is a serious clean-up of the Bitan-ag and applying the law disallowing throwing of garbage down the down. Remove all shanties and any structure built along the creek or over it. Do we have the political will to do it? Aha, that is the big question.