Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama (PNA file photo)
CEBU CITY – Mayor Michael Rama said Tuesday the city government is in talks with a big businessman for the construction of a giant water catchment to solve the problem of flooding and supply of water.
“I asked Mr. Hans Sy since his family is into malls and is a philanthropist. I asked him to come up with an investment for a huge underground water catchment that will have a water pump connecting from the rivers to the catchment,” Rama told reporters.
Apart from the catchment, he said, reverse osmosis and desalination facilities should be built to process the stored water into clean and potable water.
According to the mayor, water catchment is the best solution because some of the villages are situated below sea level and the present causeways leading to the sea are blocked by seawater during high tide and can only be opened during low tide.
The proposal will undergo the usual procurement procedures, Rama said, hinting at a public-private partnership to materialize his anti-flooding advocacy.
The city’s existing “war on floods,” manned by former military official Melquiades Feliciano, focused more on efforts to enforce the legal easement of 3 meters in urban areas, 20 meters in agricultural lands, and 40 meters in forest lands. (PNA)
