Malabon Administrator shares city’s best practices, strategies to enhance resiliency in Malaysia Conference Malabon City Administrator Dr. Alexander Rosete shared the city’s best practices and actionable practices to boost resiliency and address flooding problem and various challenges during the Smart Cities Asia Conference 2024 held in Malaysia on Sept. 25.
His presentation, entitled “Making Cities Resilient Together: The Malabon City Metro Manila Experience,” focused on Malabon’s utilization of advanced technology to implement programs that will solve various concerns including flooding, typhoons and other calamities, ensuring that the city residents are safe while, waste management and other operations were effectively carried out by response teams.
The event aims to create a platform where industry professionals, policy makers and urban innovators could connect, learn, and share. By having a place to meet, get inspired and exchange views, we wanted the event to set the right standard and direction for public-private partnership (according to https://smartcitiesasia.com/).
It serves as a guideline for local discourse across various verticals on smart city; allow leaders to share their strategies and success stories; serves as a guideline for local discourse across various verticals on smart city; and conduct training to provide visibility on talent readiness to meet “smart city market needs.”
Dr. Rosete shared that since Malabon (a low-lying coast city with about 400,000 residents, 18 rivers and waterways, and near Manila Bay) is highly vulnerable to environmental risks, including rising sea levels, tidal movements, frequent flooding, and other challenges, the local government leaned towards using advanced strategies to improve emergency response, urban planning, and other programs for safety, and security.
With these challenges that affect the daily living of Malabueños, the city administrator said that the city government, through the leadership of Mayor Jeannie Sandoval, created projects that focuses on the usage Information Technology.
To efficiently monitor the weather, status of waterways, and the reduce the impact and possibility of flooding during heavy rains and high tide, Dr. Rosete said that the local government installed equipment including water-level sensors in river networks, rain gauges in identified areas, CCTV cameras, risk and hazard maps, and early warning sirens that will alert residents for pre-emptive evacuation.
Boats and other equipment were also improved to ensure rescue operations during calamities are effective. He added that 50 pumping stations (PS) operated by the local government, MMDA, and DPWH that were integrated to the city’s infrastructure to help in its water management system and prevent flooding from low-lying areas. Two of these pumping stations – Catmon PS and Spine PS (located in Caloocan but serves as interceptor of run-off water in Malabon) – were the city’s primary automated stations improves flood response byoperating independently without human intervention, allowing for more immediate water discharge during critical conditions.
He also highlighted the city’s efforts in ensuring that the navigational flood gates that regulate water flow in rivers are operational; the creation of road dikes, interlocking blocks, and automatic trash rakes and other infrastructure that reduce the impact of flooding in Malabon, especially in flood-prone areas.
Dr. Rosete also said that the city has programs for the environment such as as the deployment of “Estero Rangers who clean waterways; timely mangrove tree-planting activities that help not just in the city’s flood-mitiagation measures but also help make it green and livable the Community-based Composting Program and household-level waste segregation to reduce waste and promote sustainable practices at the barangay level.
“The concept of Smart Cities represents a crucial advancement in addressing the multifaceted challenges of urbanization. As cities grow and evolve, they encounter complex infrastructure, resource management, and quality of life issues. Embracing the principles of Smart Cities offers a pathway to effectively tackle these challenges by harnessing the power of technology and data-driven decision-making,” he said.
The city administrator added that building solid partnerships with stakeholders, active participation of residents, and environmental initiatives of the city were the keys for Malabon to become a resilient city that can navigate the complexities of urbanization and climate change, ensuring a safer and more sustainable future for their residents.
“We as public servants and residents of Malabon are committed to our goal of making it a livable, safe and more sustainable city for the Malabueños. Integrating Information Technology and other advancements will surely help in the development of Malabon for disaster response, urban development, boosting tourism, and gaining the trust of residents. The local government always think of ways to improve or upgrade its programs for the benefit of the Malabueños,” Dr. Rosete said.
