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Biz group taps Opav to hasten flood control project

Friday, October 06, 2017
By Erwin P. Nicavera

THE Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) has tapped the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (Opav) to help accelerate the completion of the flood control project in Bacolod City vital in boosting the local business climate.

MBCCI chief executive officer Frank Carbon said they submitted a resolution to Opav Thursday, October 5, requesting Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino to make a representation to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Carbon, also the regional governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) in Western Visayas and Negros Island, said Dino’s representation would help accelerate the dredging projects in three major rivers like the Mandalagan, Lupit, and Magsungay.

“We have experienced a series of flooding, the recent was on September 22,” Carbon cited, adding that the dredging started middle of 2015 which until now remains unfinished.

In a meeting with Dino at the sidelines of the PCCI Area Business Conference in Cebu City on September 28, Carbon said the Malacañang official told them that the DPWH has already allocated P446 million for the flood control project in Bacolod City.

Dino pointed that there is a need for an additional budget of P270 million to complete the project which also includes other works like construction of flood wall.

Dino then assured the local business group that he will push not only for speeding up the completion but also for the needed additional fund.

“The Secretary said it is not wise to spend close to half a billion but yet flooding still continues. Thus, it would be better to provide the additional allocation that will fully solve the problem,” Carbon told SunStar Bacolod.

Attached to the resolution submitted by the MBCCI were the “bullets” requested by the Opav. These included documentation and information on the recent flooding that caused evacuation of hundreds of families and damaged hundreds of houses.

The MBCCI will also write the DPWH in Western Visayas and the agency’s District Office in Bacolod City regarding their concerns.

Carbon pointed out that when flood problems are addressed, it will minimize business losses, and the city will also be attractive to more investors.

“More investments mean more jobs. If there are more jobs, the purchasing power of the people is also strong, which is vital in creating more industries and businesses,” he added.

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