Treñas asks funds for additional dredging works
City Mayor Jerry Treñas has asked for additional funding for the dredging of Iloilo River and three other creeks from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He presented his concerns in last Tuesday’s visit of the President to Iloilo City. His request for more funding was based on the recommendation of Engineer Al Fruto, project manager of the Iloilo Flood Control Project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Treñas did not say the exact funding requirement for the dredging of Iloilo River, Mansaya, Buntatala and Calajunan creeks. He said the department is still looking where to get the funding for further dredging works which is deemed important to ease the flooding in the city. The dredging of Iloilo River, Mansaya, Buntatala and Calajunan creeks will complement the dredging works at Dungon Creek.
DPWH is currently implementing the P50 million dredging package for the Dungon creek. The funding for the Dungon creek was sourced out from the 2009 calamity fund of the DPWH. The Dungon creek dredging is one of the priority projects in Panay included in the P481 million allotted by the national government. The P481 million initial assistance was intended for the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges destroyed by Typhoon Frank.
The P50-million contract for the dredging of Dungon creek was awarded to WT, a Cebu-based contractor. The contractor was already given a notice to proceed with the works. The presence of informal settlers along the creeks and the weather condition are two reasons cited by the public works to hamper the dredging activities.
The Dungon Creek dredging will affect 13 barangays in Lapaz and Jaro. It will start from Magsaysay Village in Lapaz down to Dungon B in Jaro. Hundreds of families occupying the creeks were already identified by the Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office (ICUPAO) to be relocated to the San Isidro relocation site. However, the affected families are hesitant to transfer since they have no available livelihood at the relocation site.
In Magsaysay Village, only 20 families accepted the government’s offer for relocation. Majority of those affected families asked for reconsideration since they earn their living in the barangay by either working as trisikad drivers or accepting laundry from the students and office workers. The barangay is near several schools and government offices.
Overall, only 57 identified families moved to the relocation site out of the 402 families who are qualified to occupy lots at the San Isidro relocation site. The San Isidro relocation site is occupied mostly by families living along the creeks and waterways whose houses were totally washed out by Typhoon Frank.