CH needs more workers to clear canals, drainage

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Councilor Jerry Guardo is asking 48 additional personnel to respond to declogging requests from the public.

Guardo, chairman of the committee on infrastructure, said the additional personnel are needed by the “Menos Baha Task Force” to address the increasing demands.

He said the task force is receiving an average of six to 10 declogging requests every day.

"Pagsugod nato gamay pa man ang atoang team, we only have four teams lang. Enough lang na sa una kay five to six requests ra ta daily. But with the awareness sa mga tawo sa program kay na appreciate sa barangay ang demand," Guardo said. (We started with only four teams enough to address five to six requests daily, but with the people’s awareness of the program the demands have increased)

He said the barangays also appreciated the program, thus, requests for clearing operations started to flood. At present, the task force is composed of four teams with 60 job order workers under the supervision of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW).

Guardo said additional human resources are needed to augment the existing manpower to better address the problem. Guardo said he does not want a backlog in their operation and the only way to efficiently carry out the task is to have more personnel.

"If naay mo-request dapat ma-serve dayon nato, dili kinahanglan magka back logs kay pait kaayo na. Magsige ta apas," he said.

Guardo said the task force needs skilled workers to repair dilapidated canals and other minor works.

"Dapat naay skilled workers kay dili lang sila sa declogging lang kay naa man mi ma-encounter nga there's a need for repair bitaw. Kanang mapangag na ang ilahang canal, then ang culvert nabuak na," he said.

Additional personnel will be funded from the allocations of Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CCDRRMO). — FPL (FREEMAN)