PILOT CHANNEL. Engr. Sibug, chief of the construction division of DPWH III shows the on-going repair of pilot relief water channel from Gugu Creek to Sapang Labuan.
This is to prevent anew the overtopping of water that breached the CSF-Sto.Tomas-Minalin taildike last year.
Photo courtesy of Jun Jaso, PIO Pampanga
STO. TOMAS, Pampanga – The rainy season is coming but residents here as well as in nearby Minalin and in southwest San Fernando can rest easy, their fears of flooding assuaged by the completion of the repair of the tail dike that runs through the three localities.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Region III completed the repair and rehabilitation of the tail dike which breaching at the height of the habagat or southwest monsoons in August last year submerged the towns in floodwaters up to 12 feet deep in some areas.
Reporting to Gov. Lilia G. Pineda over the weekend, Engr. Luisito Sibug, chief of the construction division of DPWH-3, said the repair of at least 102 meters of the breached section of the dike in San Fernando and 96 meters in Sto.Tomas was completed as of April, costing P27.8 million.
“The tail dike was designed to protect the towns from flood waters coming from upstream. The towns affected by habagat can rest assured of the integrity (of the repair) of the dike to prevent another flooding,” Sibug said at the meeting of the provincial disaster risk management council presided by Pineda at the Governor’s Staff House in Clark.
Engineering interventions complementary to the rehabilitation of the tail dike were also undertaken, reported Sibug. These included the development of a “pilot channel with slope protection” of the Gugu Creek in Sapang Pari to Labuan with a length of 1.2 kilometers costing the DPWH P34 million, to include the widening and desilting of the area.
”This will prevent the water current from targeting the newly constructed CSF-Sto.Tomas-Minalin tail dike,” Sibug noted.
Even as Pineda commended the DPWH for its accomplishment in the rehabilitation and repair of the tail dike and the rechanneling of the Gugu Creek, she reminded the agency of other flood mitigation projects that needed to be implemented.
“Fortunately, one of the problems was solved. However, there are still flood control infrastructures that must be attended. The provincial government will give any form of support to fast track the mitigation projects,” the governor told the DPWH engineers
The heavily damaged setback levee in Arayat town and the eroded Arnedo Dike along the Pampanga River in eastern Pampanga are two critical areas in need of immediate repair and rehabilitation.
Earlier, DPWH Regional Director Antonio Molano Jr. made the same assurances to the Kapampangan folk of flood-mitigating interventions to prevent the recurrence of the devastating floods in the wake of habagat last year.
“Rest assured that the DPWH shall continue to perform dredging of the rivers and water tributaries especially in Minalin to allay fears of a repeat of last year’s devastation” Molano said.
