Cuenco lobbies P50 million budget for declogging

CEBU, Philippines — A Cebu City councilor is asking the executive department to include the P50 million budget in the first supplemental budget this year for the declogging of all city’s waterways.

Councilor Antonio Cuenco said the city needs to implement measures to alleviate the flooding problem since the rainy season has already started.

“We will be engaging the services of private contractors. Mag-bidding pa man. We will speed up the bidding. This is just temporary solution to the giant problem that we have,” he told reporters.

Last Tuesday night, Cuenco said, several streets in the city were flooded because of the heavy downpour.

He said the canals, rivers, and creeks are clogged with trash, causing floodwater to overflow.

He said he was informed that the executive department is preparing the first supplemental budget this year.

Among the items included in the SB-1 are the financial assistance for senior citizens for the remaining six months; projects for flooding, business landscape, traffic, garbage, peace and order matter, and education; full payment for the South Road Properties loan; and budget for the completion of the Cebu City Medical Center and Carbon Market Phase 2, and the construction of the Cebu City College.

If the P50 million will not be included in the SB-1, Cuenco said he is hoping that the executive department will include it in the Annual Budget for next year.

Having temporary solutions to flooding problem is better than doing nothing, he added.

Cuenco said he talked to City Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia, who sits as chairman of the council’s committee on budget and finance, to lobby for the inclusion of the P50-million budget.

“This is different from the long-range program which is the integrated and comprehensive drainage master plan,” he said. — KBQ (FREEMAN)