Philippines: Chico River Dredging Funds Earmarked

City Mayor Ferdinand Tubban announced that P11.5 million is being earmarked from the city’s 20% development fund to re-channel the Chico river to save agricultural lands and settlements from further drowning, Philippine Information Agency reports.

Though the amount is not enough for a full stretch re-channeling of the river route from Calanan to Cabaruan, he said it will be used to re-channel the water from portions that made route on settlements and farm lots particularly in Barangay Anniban.

“While we are looking on permanent solutions to the siltation problem which needs huge amounts of appropriations, we have to do initiate control measures to save further destruction of the river,” Tubban told barangay officials during a recent public consultation.

Full-blown dredging to re-channel the river to the center and on its original route is mostly considered a typical solution by technical people. Government has already spent millions of pesos buildings dikes and but the river continues scouring developed areas on both river sides.

Heavy siltation of the Chico river bed has caused the easy re-routing of the flow of the river towards agricultural lands and settlements on both sides of the river. There are dozens of hectares of titled rice and corn lands that were already washed out due to flooding.

Narciso Pacursa of Cabaritan, a land owner, has only one-half hectare left from his four-hectare rice land. Peter Gayagay, of the same riverside barangay, is tilling at present one hectare left from his three-hectare land.

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Dredging Today Staff, April 19, 2012;