EDITORIAL - Rama should prioritize drainage dev't.

Summer is about to end and in the next few days the rainy season will take over. Once again, Cebuanos, especially residents of Cebu City, will face the usual problem that has long been pestering them for a long time already.                   

Flooding has already been part of the lives of Cebu City residents, especially those in the downtown area, who endure hours negotiating through flooded streets to reach their destinations. It also causes untold business losses as rising waters from clogged drainage force stores to close.                   

We always wonder why this premier city still lacks the necessary measures to prevent flooding. We have yet to see any significant improvement in its dilapidated drainage system in this time when many highly urbanized areas are busy embracing modern infrastructure system as catalyst for more development.                    

This is not to say the administration of Mayor Michael Rama fell short in the aspect of infrastructure development. In fairness to him, Rama has been trying to improve the city's drainage system ever since his first day in office.                     

In fact City Hall is presently working to improve the downtown drainage in anticipation of the rainy season. As a testament, one can go down cruising through Junquera Street to experience traffic congestion caused by some drainage improvement works.                      

But it remains to be seen whether these ongoing works can help prevent flooding in the downtown area in the coming months. As we see it, drainage improvement around the city has been generally minimal, which can hardly prevent flooding during heavy rains.                      

What the city needs is a massive drainage revolution that would once and for all solve the decades old flooding problem. And this drive needs a collaborative effort of all local officials in order to achieve the goal.                      

With a fresh mandate to serve another term, Rama should make drainage development his number one priority. The problem on flooding will never be solved unless there is honest-to-goodness approach to solve it.