The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of Dumaguete is getting more serious in its goal of providing a safe evacuation site for flood victims.
CDRRMC head Joe Chiu says they are looking at the TB Pavilion in barangay Talay as an ideal evacuation site because of its elevation. This facility, which is not being used to its maximum potential, is said to be 300 feet above sea level. This is a much better alternative to the other evacuation centers that we have which are either close to the river or are located on dried up river beds.
However, designating the TB Pavilion as an evacuation center does not totally solve the City’s problem of flood victims. There are low-cost housing projects which are right along the river, like the Habitat and Scandinavian Housing projects, which are beside the Banica River. We also have the squatters, a.k.a. informal settlers, who continue to live along the coastlines and even on top of the tiny Tubod creek in barangay Looc.
Flooding in the Banica is already a given. There’s nothing we can do to stop it from flooding whenever the heavy rains come. For as long as people continue to live along the riverbanks, they will always be living under the threat of being swept away by floodwaters.
True, the City has spent a big fortune placing dikes which serve as protection for the housing projects along the river. Today, however, there are signs that these dikes won’t hold up for long–the river is carving some holes at the base of the dikes. These holes are visible from the City Pound Bridge in barangay Balugo.
Instead of building expensive dikes like these, we can put the money to better use by relocating people to safer grounds. Why spend hundreds of millions in building structures to protect communities at risk when these communities may be relocated for much less?
So the TB pavilion seems to be one safe solution. If it’s all about elevation, the City may want to buy land around that area for future relocation sites. Not only will we have safer communities but we will also have cleaner waterways and coastlines.
