The renovation work for three drainage systems leading to the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach project faces delay due to the lack of funds, the Department of Public Works and Highways said.
The closure of the said drainage systems has been blamed for the recent floods in Manila.
DPWH Secretary Manny Bonoan said the Padre Faure drainage, Remedios Drainage, and Estero de San Antonio were closed down to make way for renovations that would benefit the Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach.
But the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Tuesday clarified that it is not the dolomite beach itself but the ongoing drainage systems project which caused flooding in some of the streets in Manila last Friday.
Bonoan, in an ABS-CBN News report, said that under the requirements of the dolomite project, the drainage systems must pump wastewater to a sewage treatment plant before flowing to Manila Bay near the beach.
The official said the DPWH needs to place longer pipes and put more powerful pumps in the said drainage systems.
MMDA general manager Baltazar Melgar meanwhile said it is not the beach but the unfinished pumping stations and a pipeline near the area that caused the flood.
“Dolomite Beach has no connection to the recent flooding in the area. The reason why flood water subsided slowly during heavy rains last Friday was the ongoing construction of three pumping stations and a pipeline by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) which is expected to be completed by October,” he said.
Gutter-deep floods caused the slow moving of vehicles in the areas of Pedro Gil, Quirino Avenue, Taft Avenue, Kalaw Avenue, and Roxas Boulevard on Friday.
Other roads were also reported impassable to light vehicles. Hundreds of commuters, mostly workers on their way home from work, have been stranded due to lack of public utility vehicles.
The MMDA is now coordinating with the DPWH in operating a mobile pump in the area to discharge the water directly to the Manila Bay.
In a related report, Davao City and some localities in Cebu province were hit by severe flooding on Monday night.
In a video by Anne Raj Rugay, motorists traversing through downtown Davao can be seen. stranded, ABS-CBN reported. Commuters were also stranded due to a lack of public utility vehicles.
The weather bureau on Monday night issued an orange rainfall warning in some regions in the country due to the southwest monsoon enhanced by a low pressure area. With Joel E. Zurbano