De Venecia’s P16.5 M to solve Tapuac’s flood woes

Sabotage by Political Opponents: Tapuac Brgy. Captain Jake Reyes just exposed that the caused of the flooding at the stretched of Amado  Area in Tapuac was the result of piles of sand bags (background ) thrown inside the drainage system  that clogged there. He said he suspected his political nemesis  to be behind this sabotage

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY- The woes of residents in Brgy. Tapuac here who suffered perennial flooding might be over after Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia announced recently a P16.5 million packages of raising the grade and construction of a  drainage system  near Trauma Hospital & Specialist Center to Amado Area.

Tapuac, particularly the entire stretch of Amado, earned a bad image for the past years because of her vulnerability to floods even with just a drizzle.

“The problem in our barangay  is the drainage system that should carry the water out  was not completed because the private owner of a fishpond (where the exit of the drainage is located) stopped its construction,” Village councilman Sydney Lomboy told this paper in an early interview .

Lomboy lamented the fiasco the drainage project brought to the people there and the obnoxious and eye sore piles of garbage at the back of Lyceum Northwestern University.

Brgy. Captain Jake Reyes said that the flooding in the village is hopeless as Tapuac is located in a lower level of the demography of the city. But he was quick to say that other low level barangays like Malued and Mangin are worst hit every time there is typhoon.

Flood prone villages in Dagupan are Salisay, Tebeng, Bacayao , Norte, Bacayao Sur, Lasip Grande, Lasip Chico , and Pogo Grande .

“What we need is to level up by filling of soil the areas like Green Fields to avoid flood to their households. But people there are not amenable because it is quite expensive,” Reyes said.

A source who asked anonymity blamed the other causes of the flood to owners of big business like private schools who constructed buildings at areas that once a fishpond and a catch basin every time rain falls.

Meanwhile, de Venecia said that she has allotted a total of 147 million pesos to construct five major road and drainage system projects in the city. First of which is the on-going construction of road and drainage system of Bonuan Gueset, to be finished this December, worth P45M.

The other three (3) projects, which will start at the first quarter of 2012 are: Rehabilitation of the drainage along Arellano- Bani, and concreting of road shoulder, from Dawel to Tanap bridge, worth P18.5 million; Raising of grade and construction of drainage of Mayombo, from junction of Perez Boulevard to Villaflor hospital, worth 47 million; and the raising of grade and construction of drainage of Lucao section, from the junction of old De Venecia Hi-way to the junction of new De Venecia hi- way, worth 20 million.