By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez (3rd District, Neg. Occ.) said infrastructure projects damaged by flash floods two months ago in the third district of Negros Occidental will be repaired.
Benitez, together with the Office of the Civil Defense 6, will spearhead a Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery planning workshop this month, where affected local government units will finalize with concerned national agencies their priority rehabilitation programs.
Benitez met recently with the OCD 6 regional team led by Jose Roberto Nuñez and representatives from Victorias, Silay, Talisay, and EB Magalona that were affected by floods on January 1 and 8, and other agencies that can assist in the rehabilitation efforts.
The lawmaker said the convergence meeting focused on the requirements of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to mobilize and allocate funding for immediate rehabilitation of damaged public works in the district caused by the flash floods.
Benitez had earlier requested assistance from President Rodrigo Duterte in mobilizing government resources for vital infrastructure damaged by the flashflood, which also affected 20,530 families.
Nuñez said that the report on the damages was submitted to the Office of the President and endorsed to the national and regional disaster risk management councils, for validation, assessment, and consideration for immediate action.
The cities of Silay, Talisay, and Victorias have already submitted their respective lists of priorities which included critical areas of concern to attain a resilient disaster response.
Among their priorities are rain gauges for monitoring and an early warning system, dredging of rivers and tributaries, slope protection, drainage master plan, repair of roads and bridges, identifying houses in disaster-prone areas, geo-tagging, relocation plan, comprehensive waste segregation and management plan, and massive reforestation in upland and midland areas with attention to livelihood opportunities for families.
