18 January 2007
By Ephraim Aguilar
Legazpi City
DESPITE reports of people leaving Legazpi City and businesses planning to move to other places because of the devastation caused by recent disasters, Mayor Noel Rosal waxed optimistic that the capital will carry on and survive.
“Disaster has been a usual part of our lives here. But I believe that Legazpi, after the worst, has its own life and potentials,” Rosal said.
The central business district was among the areas badly hit by supertyphoon “Reming,” after being submerged in floodwaters.
While at least P100 million would be needed to rehabilitate the damaged infrastructure, crops and facilities, the city government only had P45 million available, Rosal said.
He was expecting to generate the rest of the amount from the national government and other sources.
The Department of Budget and Management pledged an initial P20 million for the reconstruction of the Bogtong road beside the heavily silted Yawa river, which was scoured by lahar from Mt. Mayon. The road serves as the passageway of buses and freight trucks to the city.
One of the priorities in the rehabilitation plan was the repair and unclogging of drainage systems and flood control facilities, since reconstruction would be expensive.
“Many of the areas downtown are below sea level. Now, we would have to unclog flood-control facilities. The dredging of heavily silted rivers and clearing of river channels would be our last defense,” he said.
Heavy rains over the week have caused minor flooding in low-lying areas and continued to cause fear among urban dwellers.
The repair of damaged schools and infrastructures was also a major concern in the rehabilitation plan.
Rosal said 80 percent of the public schools had been damaged by the supertyphoon.
One of the city’s biggest burdens is the total relocation of more than 500 families from Barangay Padang, one of the villages worst-hit by mudflows from Mt. Mayon.
He said the relocation will require about P30 million with every family given P60,00.
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