BY: DONALD SEVILLA
A GARGANTUAN CANAL
(FINAL INSTALLMENT OF A TWO-PART SERIES)
We can see concrete walls and sheetpiles to prevent soil erosion, typical of the flood control designs we have seen in the news as exposed in the flood control projects’ controversy.
We do not know the depth of the piles and the extent of the civil works and how far will it go along the stretch of the river.
Yet even then, we are curious if a detailed feasibilty study was ever made vis a vis its impact on tourism and the natural beauty of the surrounding environment.
As we see it, the concrete works make it ugly, rendering the look of a big drainage canal much like the storm drains in LA and other big cities worldwide.
Now who would want to cruise along a huge concrete canal?
And here we are talking only about its aesthetic beauty? What about the cost that could run into the billions?
One billion pesos is a thousand million.Imagine the things it could be used for to help our poor brethren for healthcare and other basic services.
We are not saying flood control is not needed and has to be completely done away with. But there are new and better technologies out there at lesser cost if we are really serious about this.
For soil erosion protection, there are permeable reinforced membranes that can be planted with vegetation on top that holds the soil in place and looks more natural and beautiful. We just have to study and think outside the box .
But primarily this project has to have a wholistic approach, taking into consideration other factors such as siltation and sediment buildup in the estuary along the mouth of the river’s exit into the sea in Loay.
For example, for a mere fraction of the cost the project is incurring now, both municipalities of Loay and Loboc can share this, two floating excavators can traverse the entire river length from end to end, conducting regular desilting making the waterway navigable and free of obstruction.
At the same time, river embankments can be draped with permeable membranes anchored in rock and planted with vegetation whose roots hold back soil well.
With a free unobstructed flow of water downstream into the sea , there will be less chances of water buildup and flooding even during high tide.
We are sure there is no shortage of bright and innovative ideas out there. We have many brilliant and talented engineers working in government, but it’s a pity their talents go to waste, lost in the trappings of corruption.
Yet we are shocked and awed by our politicians and their cohorts’ lifestyles. Ostentatious displays of wealth and extravagance by people doing business with government have earned the public’s ire.
Rightly so, because to every working man earning an honest living, this is a gross injustice and insult.
Does Bohol have a billion peso flood control project? Perhaps not one huge megaproject but an aggregate of projects broken down into sections and by phases .
The Loboc River is the most likely candidate and true to its history, it can bring fortune or doom to whoever plays and lives by it.
What is the total project cost? Who is the real contractor? Is this subcontracted or a joint venture undertaken with some big, notorious Manila-based company?
Only a few would know. This project could be the sum of all our DPWH ‘s worst fears!
NakakaDISMAYA KAYA!