STO. TOMAS, Pampanga—The residents of this town, known as the casket and pottery capital of the province, and the nearby City of San Fernando can sleep well this rainy season, as the river causing massive flooding in the area will at last be dredged by a non-government organization.
Engineer Marni Castro, a leader of the NGO called Multi Sectoral Non-Government Organization, said the Pao River near the Federosa Resort in Barangay San Matias here will be dredged starting this month to prevent flooding in the area.
The river, about 1.5 kilometers long, will be dredged using the new amphibious Baku machine worth P35 million purchased recently by the provincial government.
The dredging transpired through 2nd District Rep. and former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who asked the government to dredge heavily silted rivers in the area from Lubao to Sto. Tomas, Castro said.
Three dredgers owned by Mayor Jun Sambo of Sto. Tomas were also made available for the project. The fuel to be used by the dredgers will be shouldered by the Central Luzon office of the Department of Public Works and Highways under Director Antonio Molano.
According to Castro, the dredging of the river will take at least three months starting this month. After the Pao River, the dredging will continue all the way to Minalin town, toward Manila Bay. This time, dirt and waste from the dredging will be hauled elsewhere instead of being placed along the river bank, which could float back during the rainy season.
“This is a different dredging of the river,” Castro assured members of the Cabalen Sports Club during their weekly meeting on Thursday.
Flooding here and in San Fernando has caused deaths and extensive damage to property, with the city suffering up to P15 billion in damages and lost business opportunities annually, he added.
Another way to stop the flooding in the province, Castro said, is to open the quarry business along Mancatian River and other rivers in Pampanga, so that the water will go straight to Manila Bay through its tributaries.
At present, the provincial government earns several thousand pesos a month through quarry fees from 5,000 to 7,000 trucks a day from Metro Manila and nearby provinces. However, their quarrying is spotty, Castro said, meaning that a portion of river is used while other parts are not being touched at all.