The Cebu City Council has appealed to the local government on Monday to provide updates on the proposed drainage masterplan and requested the Department of Engineering and Public Works to submit before 14 February the Flood Mitigation and Drainage Study.

In a resolution authored by North District City Councilor and Minority Leader Nestor Archival insisted that since flooding is among the major problems of Cebu City, it is just right that it must not be dealt in “piecemeal.”

“If there is one barangay with flooding, then piecemeal approach to correct the drainage problem, say we can clean up the culverts that’s possible we can solve the flooding problem. However, what if the flooding problem transfers to a neighboring barangay?” Archival said.

He stressed the piecemeal approach will not cure the root cause of flooding but is merely a band-aid solution.

Archival also requested the Department of Public Works and Highways Region 7-Unified Project Management Office to provide a copy of documents, such as the complete set of documents of the Drainage Masterplan of Metro Cebu and a timeline of the implementation of its Detailed Engineering Design.

Earlier, Engr Carlo Escanuela, UPMO-DPWH-7 presented to the council a drainage Masterplan that required P8.2 billion in funding.

Archival insisted the flooding problem has already been mapped out years ago yet project implementation has been delayed.

Citing the effectiveness of the drainage projects will depend on aligning the DPWH-7’s and DEPW’s plans.

He said the fight against flooding in the city must not be solely entrusted to DEPW to ensure, for example, that the right sizes of culverts as based from the drainage Masterplan are used so as to avoid wasting funds.

The City Council has been allocating budget for drainage projects.