The Ancillary Services Unit (ASU) of Davao City continues to closely monitor and clean the drainage system in the city’s areas, which are flooded during heavy rainfall just like what happened on Monday evening, April 17.
ASU head Paul Bermejo said ASU and the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) held a joint operation in the wake of Monday’s downpour, with the latter sending heavy equipment, including a vactor truck, to suck floodwater along Tulip Drive in Matina.
“Pag-abri sa manhole sa atong mga tao didto, puno ug mga basura. Gihinluan nato, gi-suction sa vactor truck. Wala nato gibayaan hangtud wala mahubas (After the manhole was opened, they saw that it was full of garbage. We cleaned it, suctioned it with a vactor truck. We didn’t give up until it dried up),” Bermejo said during Wednesday’s Madayaw Davao program of 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR).
He said some floodwater now takes longer to subside even when the roads and drainage systems are new, which has become alarming.
They have observed that the sewage may not have been aligned as some of these newly completed road projects were undertaken by different regional or district offices of a national agency.
“Ang wala nabahaan sa una, bahaan na karon. Dugay mu-subside. In fact, daghang bag-ong kalsada ug drainage system dugay naman hinuon subside ang rainwater, very ironic. Mao ni ginatutukan run sa Task Force Drainage and Road Right of Way (Areas that were not flooded before are flooded now. It takes a long time to subside. In fact, many new roads and drainage systems have taken a long time to be emptied, very ironic. This is what the Task Force Drainage and Road Right of Way is focusing on),” Bermejo added.
Aside from Tulip Drive, other flood-prone areas they are closely monitoring are Cabantian-Sasa and Buhangin Cabantian roads, as well as Barangay Bago Aplaya and the area beside Emcor along J.P. Laurel Avenue.
He added that ongoing construction projects may have closed natural waterways.
Bermejo also cited one instance when they dried up the manhole of a new road project, they saw asphalt and cement residues clogging the sewage.
He also called on residential homeowners to be mindful of the weather when they put their garbage at pick-up points as most wastes go to the canals and inlets when it rains before the scheduled pick-up.
ASU, according to him, has one team dispatched during day time and another team at night time to monitor and address the situation in flood-prone areas. CIO
