Cotabato City ready for floods, hopes it won't come

COTABATO CITY - Despitecontinuous rain happening in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato this month,the Cotabato City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) has not recorded any flood occurrence in low lying areas of the city.Since the onset of the rainy season, the CDRRMO has been in close coordination with their barangay officials and has also been monitoring the water level in the rivers and tributaries surrounding the city. As of Monday,there was no sign that the water level will rise and cause inundation any time soon, the city government said in a statement. City ABC President and Councilor Abdillah J. Lim said even the villages that are usually submerged immediately during heavy rainfall are still safe and flood-free. We have been in close contact with all our barangay officials and have instructed them to monitor the water level especially those in areas surrounded by rivers. As of now, there is still nothing to worry about,”Lim said. This development, according to City Mayor Japal Guiani, Jr, can be attributed to the constant dredging of floating excavator in heavily silted waterways.Equipment operators from the City Engineering Office are alternately manning the excavator for seven days a week to ensure it collects all the silt materials that clogged tributaries. The city government is also allocating funds for the improvement and clearing of drainage facilities in different parts of the city. Our drainage system is one of the priority projects of the city government every year. We in the city government want to make sure that they are cleared of objects that can possibly hamper the flow of water and contribute to our flooding problem,” Guiani said.The Office on Social Welfare and Development has already prepared its food supply for easy dispersal when the situation calls for it.The CDRRMO also had all availablerescue vehicles and equipment on standby. Flooding is not a new thing to Cotabato City that is why we make it a point to be always ready for any eventuality. But we are hoping, with all the efforts we are extending, that we may never experience flood again,” Lawyer Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, city administrator, said.