'Reclamation solution to Metro flooding'

MANILA, Philippines - Land reclamation is the solution to flooding in Metro Manila, Cebu and other urban areas in the country, known architect Felino Palafox Jr. said yesterday.

Palafox said that reclamation or the process of creating “new land” from oceans, riverbeds, or lakes, can “do the country a lot of good if done properly.”

Reclamation has been widely publicized to cause such negative environmental repercussion as flooding but Palafox, the “expert on floods” of recent years, believes otherwise.

He stressed that poor urban planning, inefficient waste disposal and the absence of flood-mitigating infrastructure are the primary causes of floods in the metropolis.

“Reclamation is good if done properly. Our waterfront should be taken care of,” he said.

Palafox cited a reclamation project in Dubai, which he designed.

“Dubai was able to expand its waterfront from 70 kilometers to 2,000 kilometers through reclamation. The Philippines has the world’s third longest waterfront but we don’t use them properly. We don’t use them as front doors to development but as outhouses where garbage is thrown,” he said.

Palafox was the brains behind the Palm Islands Resort and Map of the World, which are acknowledged as modern architectural wonders and tourism destinations in Dubai.

In the Philippines, he designed the master plan for the P50-billion Navotas City reclamation project.