Recently, the city government of Quezon City unveiled what might be (and should be) a trend-setter for major flood-control projects in the future.
The new project was a P45-million "water detention" facility in Barangay Santa Monica that was constructed underneath a basketball court.
Local officials claim that the underground reservoir, which can handle up to 1,700 cubic meters of water (more than half of an Olympic-sized swimming pool), will allow water to accumulate first into the reservoir, which will then be diverted to the Tullahan River once the rain stops.
The project was patterned after a similar one in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, which has been credited with the conspicuous absence of flooding during the rainy season.
I’d also like to point out that this project also hits on the penchant of some of our politicians to construct basketball courts that, while providing a semblance of open spaces for residents, have been lambasted by critics as “easy money” especially in terms of corruption.
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One thing I remember critics saying about Singapore is that for a tiny country the size of Manila, it thinks big when it comes to developing its infrastructure.
A 2015 episode of the CNA series “Days of Disaster,” which chronicled the story of Singapore’s “mega-floods” that plagued the city-state from the 1950’s to the 1970’s, focused on the measures the city-state took to hold floodwaters in check.
Today, despite its propensity to massive rainfall (and the fact that it is almost completely surrounded by sea), Singapore rarely experiences flooding the intensity of what Metro Manila sees regularly.
The reason, officials claim, is not only the massive construction of underground canals, reservoirs, and a barrage that can pump water out to sea during the rainy season.
I remember Singaporean officials pointing out in the documentary that as the city expanded “skyward” through the construction of high-rise buildings, the government has made sure that flood-control and rainwater drainage systems will be an integral part of every blueprint, every architectural plan for public and private buildings. And such plans must be in sync with the government’s own flood-control alleviation schemes.
Has this actually been done in the Philippines, where regulation has become a “joke” and anything goes when it comes to infrastructure?
Maraming plano na ang inilatag sa nakalipas na mga taon para sa flood-control, pero tila walang paki ang mga opisyal ng gobyerno sa mga planong ito.
Obvious naman kasi ang rason: chaos in governance – the lack of a coordinated plan for flood control – is a big plus for corrupt officials seeking to rake in millions.
It was the seeming disregard for efforts by some in the government and private sector to craft a long-term coordinated plan for flood-control that has resulted in the mess we’re in now.
So kailan pa tayo gagawa ng plano? Kapag lagpas-tao na ang tubig sa Maynila kung panahon ng tag-ulan?
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