Let our leaders come to an urgent summit

Not very long ago, I expressed in an article here, my envy of one of Singapore's infrastructure achievements. It has constructed a maze of subterranean viaducts that arrest whatever volume of rain to prevent floods and store the water for a host of many other purposes. I entertained the wishful thinking for our own city to replicate the project here.

Quite recently, too, I wrote, in this column, about a comparison of the photographs of Hong Kong and Cebu City, taken decades apart. The pictures of Hong Kong, some forty years ago and that of the present Cebu City, were shot just after sundown. The lights illuminating the structures that jutted out from their respective upland areas showed uncanny similarities.

From that comparison, I proceeded to theorize that the mountainside of our city, forty years from now maybe as fully inhabited as that of Hong Kong today. There is then the present need to plan a network of wide and well paved road system, before the explosion of inhabitants there, if only to approximate the standards of ideal modern living.

Then within the week, rains of the unprecedented volume drenched our city. Last Thursday, a great part of Cebu island, not just Cebu City and neighboring Mandaue City, went under water. A large mall located at the north reclamation area became a virtual island because all of the streets surrounding it got inundated. The flood waters at Colon Street, Sepulveda Street, and even at the Cebu Business Park of Ayala immobilized vehicular traffic. Subangdaku and A.S. Fortuna in Mandaue City were impassable.

The video footages carried by different media outlets just spelled out the horror of raging floods. There were areas that got flooded for the first time in many years. And to think there was no rain, the terror magnified even more. PAG-ASA only reported heavy down pour almost throughout Metro Cebu that lasted for about two hours. Our rivers suddenly swelled and the other natural waterways could not contain the massive volume of rainwater that cascaded from the mountainsides.

Ah, the mountainsides! Then, the photographs of Hong Kong and Cebu City that I wrote about only few days ago, came back to me. When I suggested to the government to map out a road network to crisscross the mountains to make travel there less stressful, the image that I set forth was not complete. The floods last Thursday highlighted the need to emphasize environmental concerns.

Many of our experts are telling us that we are indeed experiencing the harsh effects of climate change. Years ago, we did not have rains that poured so much volume of water in extended time. Unless spawned by typhoons, our heavy rainfall then could not last more thirty minutes. The present times are different.

The dramatic impact of changing environment demands that our government planners have to consider the comparative images of Hong Kong vis-à-vis Cebu City decades apart (which I mentioned in my earlier article) and the innovative way Singapore is addressing future onslaughts of raging floods.

There is this need to approach these demands by all stakeholders including those who are not contributors to growth but may only benefit from whatever may be done. A summit has got to be called soon here in Cebu. Our leap forward in growth dictates that we have to lead the rest of the country in our serious attempt to put in place a holistic plan of action.  

The best person to call the shots is the Honorable Cebu Provincial Governor Hilario Davide III. He must assemble the mayors of the local government units composing Metropolitan Cebu, the regional directors of relevant national government departments, and the private sector. The developers of large residential subdivisions have to pitch in their thoughts in order to arrive at a coordinated development. In our midst are great minds in planning. They should likewise be asked to give their inputs.

More importantly, whatever recommendations such summit make, our leaders, primarily, the representatives of all Cebu's congressional districts, must put their act together and jointly push to bring such plans to fruition. Our national leaders cannot ignore their combined political strength. How about it gentlemen?