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Dagupan City crafting 10-year flood mitigation masterplan

By Hilda Austria

November 25, 2019, 9:09 pm

<p><strong>FLOOD MITIGATION COMMISSION.</strong> Dagupan City Mayor Brian Lim (6th from left) created the Dagupan City Flood Mitigation Commission which is tasked to create a 10-year masterplan to address the city's flooding problem. Lim acts as chairman with Engr. Joseph Lo as vice chairman. <em>(Photo courtesy of Liwayway Yparraguirre)</em><br /><br /></p>

FLOOD MITIGATION COMMISSION. Dagupan City Mayor Brian Lim (6th from left) created the Dagupan City Flood Mitigation Commission which is tasked to create a 10-year masterplan to address the city's flooding problem. Lim acts as chairman with Engr. Joseph Lo as vice chairman. (Photo courtesy of Liwayway Yparraguirre)

DAGUPAN CITY -- The Flood Mitigation Commission (FMC) of this city tasked mainly to craft a masterplan to resolve the flooding problem here has finished its research and will soon disclose to the public its 10-year flood mitigation plan.
 
In an interview Monday, Mayor Marc Brian Lim said the FMC composed of Dagupeño volunteers focused their research on the topographical, architectural and engineering aspects of the city and other technical specifications.
 
“The masterplan will cover their observation to the river system of the city; its depths, including even the sand bar in Barangay Pugaro here that restricts water (inflow/outflow),” Lim said.
 
In the 10-year plan, he said, the first focus will be on the central business district of the city.
 
“What they (we) wanted to resolve first is the (flooding) in the downtown area because if business stops  in the city due to flooding then, nobody has (an) income, not only big businesses but even small market vendors,” Lim said.
 
He said such plan covers a 10-year period due to limited financial resources.
 
“We cannot invest on it in just one year so it has to be a series of projects and programs to be funded by the city, congressional district and the national government,” he added.
 
Lim said the final draft of the FMC plan will be presented to the public and to the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP).
 
“We will ask the SP to enable it as an ordinance or recommend it with a resolution so that it has the weight of a law for purposes of legality. Remember that the rationale of this plan is because we do not want that in every change of administration, there will be another plan or idea (on how to resolve the flooding problem of the city). It is important that there is this plan otherwise, everybody will just do whatever they wanted to do,” he said.
 
The city government, Lim said, also hopes the Department of Public Works and Highways, as well as the City Engineering Office here, will use the FMC plan as basis for all projects to be implemented in the next years to combat flooding.
 
“Someone has to focus on this because it is a perennial problem. We can focus on this problem if we have a plan written down on a paper that is very specific as to its implementation and timetable. We are not saying that people should expect that there will no more be flooding, but with small improvements toward time will lead to a significant reduction of the flood, we are also being realistic,” he said.
 
FMC was created through an Executive Order by Lim on July 30 this year.
 
The members of the commission are Engr. Joseph Lo, who represents the business sector and the vice chairman of the commission; Engr. Liberato Afficial and Engr. Arnold Palmero as representatives of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers; architects Maximo Tan and Zosimo Ganaden of United Architects of the Philippines; Engr. Nancy Nazareno of the City Engineering Office; Zoning Officer James Louell Fernandez and Project Development Officer Jose Jesus Torio, both of the City Planning and Development Office; City Legal Officer Terence Marata; and lawyer Michael Camilo Datario, consultant at the City Legal Office. (PNA)
 

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