EDITORIAL - Next, the monsoons

While people swelter in the heat, there are activities that benefit from the hot, dry season. As Congress resumed sessions, the head of the House of Representatives committee on appropriations urged executive departments to take advantage of the dry season by speeding up work on infrastructure projects, including road and bridge repairs and other maintenance work, which are supposed to be finished within the year.

Congress allocated funding for the infrastructure projects that are scheduled for completion this year, the House official said, and costly delays can be avoided if work is speeded up during this dry season.

At the same time, the national and local governments must begin an intensified cleanup of creeks, floodways and other waterways before the monsoon-induced torrential rains begin. State weather forecasters have said there will be a brief transition from the lingering effects of the El Niño phenomenon to La Niña, the cool phase of the recurring climate pattern in the tropical-equatorial Pacific.

Low-pressure areas during La Niña tend to trigger heavier-than-normal rainfall in Southeast Asia, especially during the monsoon season. Waterways and drainage systems especially in Metro Manila and other crowded urban areas must be dredged or cleared of solid waste and other obstructions to water flow. Informal settlements along the banks of rivers and creeks must be dismantled for the safety of the residents themselves. Such structures are often washed away by heavy floods, causing death and injury.

This is also a good time to repair roofing in public schools, with classes still ongoing until mid-May. Students and educators will be taking their annual two-month vacation as the monsoon season is starting, and will be returning to classes at the height of the typhoon season. By the time the next school year opens, there should be no leaking roofs or broken windows that let in strong gusts of wind and rain. And when the heavy rains arrive, the drains and water pathways should not be clogged with garbage. Local government units that fail do so will see their communities suffering the worst flooding. What goes around comes around.