On the road to progress

"Here’s what’s happening in Cagayan de Oro. "

 

While Cagayan de Oro has always been well-represented in both Houses of Congress, it seems the city has benefited from big-time projects funded by the national government only on a few occasions.

Fortunately, under the present administration, it was a recipient of billion-peso projects both aimed at addressing the city’s premier woes—flooding and housing program for its informal settlers.

Presently, construction works on two road drainage systems in Cagayan de Oro are now under way to alleviate the recurring flooding problem in the city.

Barangays Camaman-an and Lapasan are among the target areas of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Region 10 for its flood mitigation projects, which have a total budget of P1.84 billion, set to be disbursed in phases.

The diversion drainage line project in Barangay Camaman-an stretches 1.23 kilometers, with the reinforced concrete box culvert spanning from Bitan-ag Creek upstream to Kolambog Creek outfall.

Kolambog Creek is also included in DPWH-10’s channel improvement project, as water from the creek flows from Barangay Camaman-an to Butuan-Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Road and Macajalar Bay outfall in Barangay Lapasan. The project involves the costruction of an open canal, a 16-meter flat slab bridge, and an 894-meter reinforced concrete box culvert.

Other major project areas include Barangays Sapang and Carmen. DPWH-10 expects to complete the construction works by 2022.

Earlier, Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno stressed the need to upgrade the city’s drainage system to prevent massive flooding, especially during the typhoon season. Moreno also initiated programs to strengthen the city’s disaster preparedness and response.

The National Resilience Council has recognized Cagayan de Oro as a “model city” for disaster preparedness, prevention, and mitigation. The city also ranked fifth in the list of most competitive cities in the country.

With regard to the issue of decent housing program for the city’s informal settlers, Cagayan de Oro’s city government just handed the keys to 12,205 survivors of Typhoon Sendong for their new houses.

The City Government of Cagayan de Oro continues to provide decent housing to informal settlers in an effort to address the rural-to-urban migration and increasing population.

To gradually fulfill the housing needs of informal settler families, the city government has acquired more than 13 hectares of land, with plans to buy 39 hectares more. The government is also eyeing another 37 hectares for the ongoing project. 

According to the city’s local shelter plan, at least 350,000 hectares of land are needed to accommodate the growing number of ISFs.

Meanwhile, the City Housing and Urban Development Department has suggested tie-ups with real estate developers in developing ISF housing subdivisions. Such partnership would help reduce the high cost of constructing houses for ISFs. 

Last year, Moreno said a funding worth P28.5 billion is required to provide mass housing for ISFs. The amount would cover land purchase, site development, construction of housing units, and other needs of ISFs.

The housing program is part of the city’s overall plan to further improve its infrastructure and social services. 

By addressing those two primary concerns of the city, Cagayan de Oro City can be expected to maintain if not improve its fifth ranking in the 2018 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index in terms of infrastructure.