Cebu City eyes 60 gabion dams for mountain barangays

The long-delayed plan to put up gabion dams in the 28 mountain barangays in Cebu City may come to reality.

The Cebu City council passed a resolution and reiterated an ordinance since 2006 to construct water catchment facilities.

North District City Councillor Joel Garganera told DAILY TRIBUNE that the city plans to construct 50 to 60 gabion dams at the cost between P250,000 to P500,000 per dam.

"We're looking at 50 to 60 gabion dams in the mountain barangays. It average between 100 to 250 sq.m. in size and cost us between 250 to 500K. Yes we do have budget for this," Garganera said.

The first site for the gabion dams will be in Barangay Adlaon as site inspection has already been conducted. The city is also coordinating with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA-Cebu) for their expertise.

Garganera cited that this will not only store water but can also mitigate flooding problems.

About P30 million has been set aside for the gabion dams.

He clarified that gabion dams are long-term solutions but immediate assistance to 500 farmers directly affected by El Nino, who were provided with hoses, containers and tanks. Food packs and goodies were given to them too.

Irrigation pumps were distributed in the mountain barangays to further assist the farmers.

Water rationing in Barangays Cambinocot and Bonbon is being conducted through Mobile Syphon Tank (MST) in coordination with the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD).