LEGAZPI CITY – Albay Gov. Fernando V. Gonzalez, chairman of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC), has taken to task the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for undertaking projects such as dredging without proper consultation with local government units (LGUs) and other concerned government agencies.

        Gonzalez told the Bicol Mail last Tuesday that it is the practice of DPWH engineers to start a project in a certain city of municipality without consulting the chief executive or Sanggunian concerned.

        “I believe that dredging operations being undertaking by the DPWH should have proper consultation with geologists from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), volcanologist from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), members of the PDCC and the city or municipal mayor or Sanggunian concerned where the project is located,” the governor said.

        He disclosed that the PDCC executive board is preparing a resolution urging the President to resolve the issue of non-consultation of the DPWH with the concerned government agencies in undertaking disaster mitigation projects. Besides the resolution, the PDCC is also creating a provincial dredging and flood control board.

        Gonzalez said he is in favor of building strong mega dikes instead of wasting millions of pesos in dredging rivers and channels.

        “Did the dredging (of Yawa River) by the DPWH help us here,” he asked. “But if we had constructed dikes, probably the barangays of Binitayan, Tagas and Bañag in Daraga would not have suffered much from the flash flood of typhoon Reming last Nov. 30.”

        Meanwhile, Gonzalez said that some 8,000 families still remain as evacuees in about 8 to 9 major evacuation centers. Some 7,000 families have been identified for recollection in permanent relocation sites.

        The job of relocating these displaced families is a joint effort of the LGU for lot acquisition, the National Housing Authority (NHA) for site development, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the NGOs for the core shelter housing, he said.