Have you guys noticed that there are now so many flood control projects popping up all over the land, just as the government’s Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and other investigative efforts are looking into the matter?
The suspicious and cynical ones among us must be wondering if these projects are being started only because they don’t want to be labeled as dreaded ghost projects that are sure to get any government official and contractor in more trouble than the regular kickback-based scams where the project does exist but a significant percentage of its cost is pocketed.
At the Bacolod North Road (N7) between the cities of Silay and Talisay, there is what seems to be a flood control project currently being constructed on the center island, which is an inconvenient and curious sight for motorists because the center island is usually the highest part of the road, which normally slopes downward from the center to the gutter, assuming that there are usually drainage canals already running along the side of that highway.
Aside from the strange logic of a center island drainage mystery that suddenly started construction after this whole flood control mess blew up, that new project has been cutting into the roots of the plentiful trees along that median, which after the fury of Typhoon Tino, makes me wonder how many of those trees whose roots have been significantly compromised by the new concrete canal will survive future typhoons? Considering that the highway is a major artery for the Metro Bacolod area, fallen trees due to compromised roots that cannot withstand powerful winds will not only block the highway, but also destroy the curious flood control project that now surrounds their root system that has been shrunk by the construction.
How much thought was put into this project and what role does it ultimately play in the flood control ‘problem’ in that area that for now, is essentially the middle of nowhere? If the DPWH and its proponent wants to clarify, this space is totally open.
Other projects that are interesting to observe, mostly because of the inconvenience they cause which makes their burden/cost even more noticeable, would be the construction work at Araneta Street, Singcang, Bacolod City, where the floods were massive during Typhoon Verbena when the river overflowed. If the drainage infrastructure they are building drains to the river, which is the one that easily overflows, how much flood controlling will it do? Perhaps they should’ve given more attention and spent more of the taxpayer’s money on the river, to make sure it can drain properly towards the sea, before adding drainage that won’t serve any flood control purpose if the river overflows first? Is that the kind of flood control infra that is only effective if there is no flooding?
Additionally, sections of busy Galo Street in Bacolod have also been closed off, apparently for a flood control project. We don’t know if this one has actually been given more thought, but the timing seems to be a bit off. Instead of staggering the construction projects to minimize inconvenience, the DPWH seems to be hell bent on starting everything at the same time just to dispel suspicions of ghost projects. After all, if they are working on it, then it can’t be a ghost, right?
This construction project and inconvenience bonanza makes us wonder how much thought has been given as far as their ‘masterplans’ are concerned.
If you come to think of it, there are so many sources of failure for projects that are not planned properly, especially when the primary motivation is just to spend the budget so they can get their percentage. Even if we take out the main issue, which right now is corruption, there are still the issues with master plans (if any exist), competence, and timing, which all combine to make successful and efficient implementation of so-called flood control projects highly challenging.
Engineers and contractors can break up all the roads to dig and lay all the drainage pipes/canals that they are told to, but if there is no comprehensive, long term, and science-based plan, all that money is still going to waste, whether or not corruption is involved.
When it comes to flood control projects, our main worry right now is corruption. Ghost projects are the worst because they aren’t even built. Next are the kickbacks. But if you come to think of it, the culture of rushing projects because corruption is the main goal could be even worse, because our government is building and paying for underground stuff that is not even effective because there is no proper plan at all. They are just building for the sake of spending the budget, not to make our society better.
Until we get ourselves a government that can address that problem as well, which has become a cultural mindset for public officials, we will keep on wasting our hard-earned taxes on useless stuff that inconveniences our daily lives while being built. We pay for it, we suffer through it, and get nothing from it, all because we are fine with putting corrupt and incompetent people in power.*
