Residents cross a makeshift bridge over a canal at Baranggay
Plaridel.
Working the waterways … Not very long ago, the town of Jose Panganiban suffered
prolonged rains and before the residents realized it, the whole community was
under water. Parang, which is one of the most thickly populated baranggays outside
the poblacion, along with other baranggays within the town proper, suffered the
most with most of the houses going under water. It was the first time in many
decades that a calamity such as this was experience by the residents. One of
the causes of the unexpected flooding was the blocked waterways such as the
esteros and creeks bisecting certain baranggays in the poblacion. This incident
had prompted the municipal government to dredged critical waterways such as the
one in Baranggay Plaridel, which is the escape route of floodwaters coming down
from the nearby mountain and ending up in the Mambulao Bay. However, it was not
just dredging and rehabilitating the canals – clearing them of stinking rubbish
and other materials – that the local government carried out to enhance the flow
of water. It was building on both banks of the waterway something that everyone
could appreciate one of these days – a concrete walkway. It could take some
time to complete the entire stretch of the Plaridel canal owing to funds
limitation. But it is almost certain that this will be completed in due time,
so that the other tributaries that are critical passageway of floodwaters
could be improved as well. Such community projects have never been seen in this
community until very recently. – Photo courtesy of LGU-JP/MWBuzz text by A P
HERNANDEZ
This canal is being widened to allow for bigger volume of floodwater to flow through.
A segment of the canal undergoing dredging to expand and deepen it.
A portion of the Plaridel canal that has just been completed.
This portion of the canal has been transformed into a neat-looking
neighborhood pathway.
Email the writer: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg and alfredophernandez@y7mail.com
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