LEGAZPI CITY---The dikes constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) may had been finished by government officials here are doubting their integrity to protect communities against floods and lahar once typhoons hit this province.

        Cedric Daep, chief of the Albay Public Safety Emergency and Management Office (Apsemo) said the dikes the DPWH built in the villages of Tagas, Busay, Culliat, Bañag and Cagsawa, all in the town of Daraga cannot be guaranteed that they could protect the communities living in the flood-prone areas.

        “The dike projects implemented by the DPWH will not completely protect the communities from possible mudflows and flash floods. Therefore, mandatory evacuation would still be necessary because the construction of dikes are not continuous,” Daep said.

        Mayor Noel Rosal echoed the same observation that the dikes constructed were not even and disconnected that they would not hold back and divert flash floods and mudflows away from the communities. The dikes the DPWH constructed were part of the multimillion pesos Bicol Calamity Assistance and Relief Effort (BCARE) released after Albay was battered by Typhoon Reming that left hundreds dead and missing.

        “I told DPWH regional director Orlando Roces that the way the dikes were constructed did not serve the purpose to protect the communities but he did not take action. My concern is that after they had been constructed the people in the flood- and mudflow-prone areas are still at risk because they were lopsidedly built,” Rosal said.

        Mario Redoblado, 41, resident of Cagsawa expressed anxiety over the quality of the construction of the dikes built in his village where hundreds of people perished as volcanic debris carried down by floodwaters rampaged down the slopes and gullies of Mayon Volcano on the eve of November 30, 2006.

        “The dikes the DPWH constructed were useless because instead of building a continuous network they were disconnectedly built while some project initiatives were just dredging. Where are the billions of pesos President Arroyo gave for the building of solid and continuous dikes?” Redoblado lamented.

        In an interview earlier with Roces, the DPWH regional director said that in Bañag they were not able to construct a long mega dike along Yawa river because of budgetary constraint.

        He reported before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Albay that a total of 134 projects under the BCARE have already been completed in this province. He said that another 141 BCARE projects are still ongoing.

        Roces said that the national government had allotted some P1.325 billion for rehabilitation in which Albay received about P900 million for the 141 projects with the third district getting the biggest share of P408.2 million, the second district some P321.8 million and the first district getting P170 million.

        He said the ongoing projects in the first district of Albay included a bridge in Bacacay town as well as projects in Daraga town in the villages of Culliat and Bañag. In the third district, he identified bridge constructions in Basag and Tubgon that are located along the Tabaco-Ligao road and one flood control project in Maipon, Guinobatan, Albay.

        Roces said that except the Tubgon Bridge which would be delayed because the fund transfer had expired while six other projects are expected to be completed before the end of this year and that the completion.

        “There is one more need to build a bridge in Padang after the Typhoon Reming. The projects that are still under construction,” he told the provincial board of Albay. He added that he has directed all district engineers to fast track the completion of remaining 22 percent backlog.

        Roces said that at least 217 projects involve reconstruction work of road networks, bridges, flood control systems, seawalls and other structures costing P1.3 billion with status of either completed or under construction.

        During the assessment meeting of the BCARE projects, the DPWH regional director reported that that 133 projects cover the repair of the national highway which were destroyed by Typhoons Milenyo and Reming. Another 65 projects involved flood control systems covering dredging and constructing flood dikes in various rivers, repairing 9 seawalls and rehabilitating 10 other structures.