|
By Manny T. Ugalde, Correspondent
MALILIPOT, Albay: An irrigation dam that has
long been denounced by residents and local officials has been
demolished. It supposedly had cost the government P1 million to
build.
An engineer from the Department of Public Works
and Highways, however, said he could not say if the demolition had
clearance from authorities, especially from the Department of
Agriculture.
Manuel Azurin, Albay district engineer, over the
weekend said the demolition of the dam was a response to complaints
of the local officials. The complaints were later raised by Rep.
Edcel Lagman (Albay, First District).
The irrigation dam, which had been servicing a
big portion of Malilipot ricefields, was causing flooding of the
town center and making the town’s Tiagao Bridge often impassable
to traffic. It was only some 100 meters away from the bridge, which
is beside the center.
Azurin said the Public Works department had
allocated P500,000 for the demolition of the dam and the clearing of
the silted river that passes under Tiagao Bridge.
Mayor Erminio Bitara said the bridge, which is
along the national highway, is often impassable during rainy season
because of overflow from the dam. The dam, he added, was also near
the town’s cemetery and public high school.
According to Paul Barela, an engineer from the
Public Works department who supervised the demolition, Malilipot had
never experienced flooding before the dam was built more than eight
years ago.
Barela said when Tiagao Bridge gets flooded,
Tabaco City and the towns of Tiwi and Malinao are all isolated. With
the demolition of the irrigation dam, he added, coastal Malilipot
will not experience flooding anymore.
He could not say whether the demolition of he
dam had a clearance from the Department of Agriculture. Barela,
though, mentioned that there was pressure from residents, barangay
(village) and town officials, and Lagman to demolish the dam.
|
