|
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has deployed
150 of its personnel and more than 20 heavy equipments to the
Visayas region to perform flood control and sidewalk clearing
operations.
MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno said that
the move is in response to the order of President Gloria Arroyo to
extend assistance to affected families in the provinces across the
country that were hardly hit by Typhoon Frank over the weekend.
Nacianceno added that the president in a
teleconference ordered MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando to deploy all
its men and heavy equipment to clear streets, drainage systems and
waterways of debris and garbage in the aftermath of the typhoon.
After receiving the order, Fernando immediately
coordinated with the National Disaster Coordinating Council and
local officials of the provinces of Aklan, Iloilo, Mindoro, Leyte,
La Union, Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales,
Batangas and Bulacan.
The first batch of some 85 men is composed of
masons, carpenters, engineers, mechanics, street sweepers and
experts in flood control.
The personnel’s first stop will be in Aklan,
the area that was hardest hit by the typhoon.
The equipments that have also been deployed
include rock drillers, backhoes, concrete breakers, compressors,
light trucks, generator sets, manlifters and chain saws.
Nacianceno said that once the group finished
their job in Aklan they would then motor to nearby Iloilo and so on.
“Our personnel will be ready and able to help
our brothers and sisters in the provinces who were affected by one
of the strongest typhoons that hit the country,” Nacianceno said.
Engr. Baltazar Melgar, the head of the
anti-flood control unit of the MMDA, will supervise the personnel
deployed.
-- Jayson Cruz Luna
|
