CEBU CITY, Philippines – A number of parts of flood management constructions alongside Cebu’s Butuanon River have been left in ruins after a single flooding incident on August 15.
From August 27 to twenty-eight, Rappler traced the Butuanon River from Barangay Malubog to Barangay Talamban in Cebu Metropolis and from Barangay Canduman to Barangay Paknaan in Mandaue Metropolis.
There, we discovered not less than 4 broken sections of a flood management construction alongside Sitios Pulangbato Correct, Dita, and Candarong of Barangay Pulangbato, Cebu Metropolis, and one other broken part of a riprap alongside Barangay Casuntingan, Mandaue Metropolis.
Collated stories from the Division of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Cebu sixth District and Cebu Metropolis District Engineering Workplaces (DEOs) confirmed that the injury was linked to the August 15 flooding incident.
Engineer Martin Tan of On Level Development, the contractor for the broken riprap in Mandaue Metropolis, stated in a CDN Digital article dated August 16 that the construction collapsed as a result of water rushed from each side of the riprap wall.
Engineer Reynaldo Fernandez of BNR Development and Growth Company, one of many contractors of the riprap in Barangay Pulangbato, instructed Rappler on Wednesday, September 10, that the broken sections have been because of the heavy flooding in mid-August.
Why ought to we be nervous?
Traditionally, the Butuanon River is thought to overflow throughout heavy rain showers, affecting 1000’s of residents dwelling alongside the upstream areas in Cebu Metropolis and downstream areas in Mandaue Metropolis.
In September 2022, the Butuanon River overflowed because of heavy rainfall, ensuing within the destruction of 675 homes. A minimum of 1,800 residents have been evacuated throughout the incident.
In July 2024, SunStar Cebu reported that the Butuanon River overflowed once more, trapping greater than 190 households in Barangay Umapad, and making sections of UN Avenue and S.B. Cabahug Road impassable.
However flooding isn’t the one trigger for concern on the subject of the Butuanon River.
In 2020, the Mandaue metropolis authorities declared the Butuanon River off-limits to the general public after the Division of Well being’s Analysis Institute of Tropical Drugs (RITM), discovered that the water there examined constructive for the poliovirus.
Since 1992, the Butuanon River had been declared a useless river — a contaminated waterway incapable of supporting wildlife.
Jesse Baring, an engineer and convenor of the Motion for Livable Cebu (MLC), instructed Rappler on Thursday, September 11, that if water alongside the river rose with higher power, the partitions of the broken flood management constructions may very well be washed out, putting extra communities in danger to flash floods.
“The sudden rise in flood water will [reach] the group and bigger injury may occur,” Baring stated.
A fast look on the web site of the Nationwide Operational Evaluation of Hazards (NOAH) of the College of the Philippines confirmed that a number of residential areas in Barangay Pulangbato close to the Butuanon River are at excessive danger of flooding.
The tasks in query
A number of the flood management tasks alongside Butuanon River that have been broken from the August 15 flooding incident have been constructed only a yr earlier than.
DPWH infrastructure information confirmed that the riprap in Barangay Casuntingan, Mandaue Metropolis, had a contract quantity of round P96.5 million and was initiated on February 16, 2024.
On Level Development, the contractor of the riprap, earlier stated that the repairs for the broken portion of the riprap would value greater than half 1,000,000 pesos.
The DPWH Cebu sixth DEO clarified in an announcement on August 29, that the injury was attributable to floodwaters carrying particles, rubbish, and silt that created intense strain behind the riprap’s wall.
Based mostly on the DPWH Cebu Metropolis DEO’s injury report, two of the flood management tasks in Barangay Pulangbato have been accomplished on December 19, 2024.
The primary undertaking was a three way partnership between Flusskrebs Constructors and BNR Development and Growth Company that had a contract quantity of round P144.5 million, whereas the second was led by BNR Development with an an identical contract quantity of round P144.5 million.
Rappler visited the workplace of Flusskrebs Constructors in Mandaue Metropolis however was instructed that they’d refer clarifications on the undertaking to BNR Development.
Fernandez, representing BNR Development, instructed Rappler that they’ve met with the DPWH Cebu Metropolis DEO to deal with considerations over the structural design of the broken parts of the flood management constructions.
Different tasks talked about within the DPWH Cebu Metropolis DEO’s injury report included a P43.9-million flood mitigation undertaking accomplished by BNR on October 22, 2023, and a P62.2-million flood mitigation undertaking accomplished by A.T. Tan Development and ARQ Builders on Could 22, 2022.
On Tuesday, September 9, Rappler tried calling and visiting the workplace of A.T. Tan Development alongside Vicente Sotto Road in Cebu Metropolis to hunt their remark however discovered solely a run-down constructing.
Rappler additionally tried calling ARQ Builders through telephone numbers accessible on their social media web page on Thursday, September 11, however our calls have been dropped. We’ve despatched a message to ARQ Builders by means of their ARQ Cebu Fb web page. This text will likely be up to date as soon as we obtain their statements.
Repairs underway
The DPWH Cebu sixth DEO introduced that repairs for the flood management construction alongside Butuanon River in Barangay Casuntingan, Mandaue Metropolis, have been completed on August 28.
“Restoration works started instantly, with reconstruction of the stone masonry and its face wall, the development of an extra barrier wall to dam robust floodwater currents, and the completion of concrete pouring for the face wall in three layers,” the workplace stated of their assertion.
DPWH Cebu Metropolis District Engineer Manolo Madronio Jr. instructed Rappler on August 29, that since among the tasks in Barangay Pulangbato have been completed in 2023 and 2024, they nonetheless qualify for guarantee repairs.
“Etong mga nasira will likely be on the value to the contractor dahil pasok pa sa guarantee interval, and truly, pinapasulat natin mga contractors natin para mainform sila,” Madronio stated.
(Those which have been broken will likely be at the price of the contractor because it’s nonetheless throughout the guarantee interval, and truly, we’ve written the contractors to tell them.)
In response to the DPWH Cebu Metropolis DEO, restore works have already begun. BNR Development confirmed to Rappler that they began with their clearing operations within the first week of September.
“Nag-clearing [operations] pa ta kay di man pud nato marepair deretso (We’re nonetheless conducting clearing [operations] since we are able to’t instantly restore it but),” Fernandez stated.
Nonetheless, it’s a race in opposition to time.
Whereas the DPWH coordinates with the contractors for the event of higher flood management construction designs, solely time will inform when the subsequent heavy rainfall will occur and by then, restore work may turn out to be extra sophisticated.
“Simply pray we don’t get heavy rain that may create a flash flood and that these open or unfinished [structures] may deliver flood water to the group,” Baring of MLC stated. – Rappler.com
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