Makati gov’t cites actions taken on flooding, busted lights

This is in response to Pedro Refuerzo Jr.’s letter which was published in the Oct. 18 issue of the Inquirer. He complained about frequent flash floods at the intersection of Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue and South Luzon Expressway and about “busted streetlights” along certain parts of the same avenue.

On the issue of flooding, we wish to point out that the city government of Makati has been diligently clearing up the city’s waterways and relocating informal settlers. In fact, we recently finished unclogging and desilting operations and hauled over 100 metric tons of silt and debris from villages of San Antonio, La Paz and Pio del Pilar. We have also completed the clearing and relocation of informal settlers in two of the four barangays spanned by the Tripa de Gallina creek on the Makati side, and the clearing of the remaining two barangays is ongoing. The waterway traverses the cities of Makati and Pasay.

The perennial flooding of the above-stated intersection, however, is beyond our control. The Tripa de Gallina creek, which serves as the outfall where 80 percent of our wastewater is discharged, rapidly overflows during a downpour and causes the flooding. While the city government has cleared most of the Makati side of informal settlers and illegal structures, no apparent action has been taken on the other side as it still abounds with informal settlers all the way to the Maricaban retarding pond. This has drastically reduced the usability of the creek’s seven-hectare lake and rendered all our efforts to prevent flooding in the area futile.

If we are to effectively address the problem, serious efforts must be done to totally clear the length of Tripa de Gallina creek of all obstructions so that it can fully serve its purpose. Until then, the flooding problem will persist. We recently got word from the Department of Public Works and Highways that they will be conducting desilting and unclogging operations on Gil Puyat (Buendia) and some streets of Palanan and San Isidro going toward Tripa de Gallina to address flooding at the intersection.

As for the lighting problem, our engineering department has informed us of the frequent theft of wirings of streetlights along Gil Puyat Avenue. In fact, they have already conducted two major repairs. To date, the lights in the area are already functional except for the busted lights of the lower arm of the lampposts, which are still undergoing repair.

We are coordinating with the police and other peacekeepers in the city to resolve the recurrent stealing of wirings in the area.

We hope we have helped shed light on these concerns.

—JOSELITO SJ SALGADO,

officer in charge,

Information and Community Relations Department,

Makati City